


Unintentional love (Elu fake dating AU)

by spidermecc



Category: SKAM (France)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Meetings, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-01-04 17:37:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18348473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spidermecc/pseuds/spidermecc
Summary: In order to get rid of Chloe, Eliott and Lucas pretend to be dating. But how long will it be just pretend?





	1. What the hell just happened?

**Chapter one: What the hell just happened?**

Lucas knew he was going to be bored out of his mind. Honestly why did he have to show up? He knew the boys wouldn’t show up even though they said they would. And if he was being honest he probably wouldn’t have either, if the tables were turned.

He had actually decided not to show up, fuck it, he thought. He had gotten his weed back, and Imane probably wouldn’t even notice that he was a no-show, he thought, while waiting at the bus stop. He could see the bus coming, and as soon as it stopped before him and the doors opened, his guilt took over, and he waved at the bus driver, gesturing him to move along.

Putain, why did he have to be so weak sometimes. Might as well get this over with he thought while walking back to the school. He was already late, it was 18:02, the meeting started two minutes ago.

Lucas really regretted going to that party. It had been a total flop, and he’d accidentally made out with that girl Chloe, who’s been texting him excessively all summer long. She really didn’t get the hint, when he didn’t respond to her first 10 messages. But who could blame her now? He’d kissed her, because he was drunk and tired of the boys teasing him with the fact that he couldn’t get with any girl or boy for that matter.

The boys thought he liked girls and boys, because he’d made out with a few girls throughout the summer. He was pretty sure that he was only into boys, but then again, he had never actually kissed one, so he wasn’t so sure himself. Anyways, it was easier to just let the boys think that he was into both girls and boys. It made it easier when the gang was talking about girls, he felt more included.

Lucas slowly opened the door to the foyer, trying to make as less noise as possible. The last thing he wanted was to attract attention, and for Imane to notice he was late.   
He quickly found a seat in the back row, and concentrated on what Daphne was saying. After 5 minutes of trying to focus on her speech about ‘a new and cool space for the students to mingle’, his attention slowly started to drift and he looked around the room, curious to see who had actually attended this meeting of their own free will (although he wouldn’t put it past Imane to blackmail every single person in the room into coming).

He glanced around the room, when someone caught his eye. He recognized most of the people in the foyer, even though he could only see their backs. But there was one person, he couldn’t make out.

He was wearing a brown jacket over a black hoodie, and his hair was the messiest thing Lucas had ever laid his eyes on. He had a sudden urge to just comb is hands through the hair, it looked so soft, he wondered what it felt like.   
Who was this guy? Why had Lucas never seen him before?  
He kept staring at him for two minutes straight, as if willing him to turn around and look at Lucas, so he could finally put a face to the mystery guy.

As if reading his mind, the guy turned his head around, scanning the room.   
“Please look in my direction” Lucas thought, almost willing him to look. He just wanted a quick glance, just to see who this guy was.   
The mystery guy finally caught Lucas’ stare and Lucas could have sworn that his heart stopped for several seconds. Was he having a heart attack right now? Shit, what the hell was going on?

The guy had the most piercing blue eyes that Lucas had ever seen. They reminded him of a reoccurring dream he had, where he was floating, on his back, in a lake. It was always the same lake, the same position and the same colors. The sun would be warming his face and he’d be floating in the deep blue lake, no worries in the world.  
Lucas always woke up from those dreams, completely contempt and his days were usually much better when he had had that particular dream the night before.

Lucas didn’t know how long he had been staring at him, but it didn’t seem to bother the mystery guy. He was actually just looking at Lucas, almost intrigued. Lucas started to wonder whether the guy was actually looking at him or if he’d found a particularly interesting spot on the wall behind him.

Lucas was pulled out of his trance, by a vibration in his left pocket. He almost jumped out of his seat, and before he looked down to pull out his phone, he saw mystery guy laughing. Was he laughing at him? Shit, Lucas didn’t even care, because he would pay good money to see that laugh again, it was mesmerizing.

Lucas looked at his phone.  
New message from Chloe:  
\- You look super cute today ;)

Huh? What was this girl on about? Lucas looked up and scanned the room, catching Chloe in the front row, a few seats away from the mystery guy, smiling and waving at him.   
Lucas sighed and put on a fake smile and waved back.   
He was completely fucked, how was he ever going to get rid of this girl?

After what felt like hours, but was in fact only 40 minutes, the meeting finally finished.   
Lucas put on his jacket and scarf as fast as he could, in an attempt to leave the foyer before Chloe caught up with him. The last hour had been absolutely exhausting, and Lucas just wanted to go home so he could stalk the mystery guy on social media. He recognized some of the people he was sitting next to, so maybe they were following him on Instagram or were friends with him on Facebook? Honestly, Lucas knew it was a long shot, especially because the mystery guy didn’t seem to actually know the people he was sitting next to. His body language, when he was interacting with them, didn’t seem relaxed, and it made Lucas think that maybe he didn’t actually know anyone at the meeting.   
Lucas couldn’t for the life of him understand why you’d attend the foyer meeting if you didn’t even know anyone. 

He checked his phone, the clock said 18:53, only 7 minutes until his bus arrived. He was absolutely freezing and had pulled his scarf all the way up to his ears in an attempt to protect himself from the cold. He should really start wearing a beanie when it’s so cold, but every time he put one on he couldn’t stop thinking that he looked like an actual 5-year-old. He wasn’t that tall to begin with, and Lucas didn’t think it was necessary to make himself look even younger than he already did.   
  
“Salut”  
  
For the second time that evening Lucas almost jumped out of his seat. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he hadn’t noticed anyone approaching.   
He looked up and the mystery guy was sitting next to him, flashing that beautiful smile of his. Lucas was completely stunned. How could someone look so handsome and cute at the same time? Shit, he couldn’t actually be real, he must be a figment of Lucas’ imagination, right?  
  
“Uhm sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything” the mystery guy said, his face falling.

Lucas realized that he’d just been staring at him and hadn’t actually answered the guy’s greeting.   
  
“No uh- salu- I mean, you didn’t interrupt anything, you just startled me” Lucas finally stammered.  
  
Smooth, real smooth Lucas. Gosh sometimes he didn’t understand how he even had friends with such poor social skills. All it took was a ‘salut’ from a handsome (more like breathtaking) guy and he was completely dumbfounded.  
    
“Good, wouldn’t want to interrupt your daydreaming” the guy laughed.

“Yeah, just thinking about how good that foyer meeting was” Lucas responded, hoping to keep the mystery guy smiling.

“I know right, so who are you teaming up with for the mandatory four-page essay?” the mystery guy asked.

“I’m- wait, the what now?” Lucas asked, probably looking like a deer caught in the headlights.   
  
“Haha I’m kidding, just wanted to check if you’d actually payed attention during the meeting. Looks like I busted you”.  
  
Lucas didn’t even know what to say, he was honestly just really glad that he didn’t have to write a four-page essay. Although if he could team up with the mystery guy, it probably wouldn’t be all that bad.   
  
“I’m Eliott, by the way. What’s your name?”  
  
“Lucas. You’re new?” he answered, eager to get to know more about the mystery guy- no, Eliott.   
“Yeah, I-“ he was caught off by a high pitched voice;  
“Hi Lucas, where did you run off to?”. Lucas recognized the voice and was actually dreading looking up. Why couldn’t she just leave him alone, dear God..  
  
“Hey Chloe” he answered “yeah I was in a hurry, had to catch a bus”.  
  
“No worries”, she beamed “I’m just glad I caught you. I wanted to ask if you’re free to hang out this weekend? We could do a romantic dinner and maybe a movie?”  
  
Lucas literally couldn’t think of anything he’d want less than that. He looked over at Eliott helpless, silently asking him for help. Eliott just stared intensely at Chloe, he wasn’t even paying any attention to Lucas.   
  
Maybe he thought she was cute? Was he upset that Chloe was into Lucas? Maybe Chloe was the reason he went to the foyer meeting?  
  
A million thoughts were racing through his head, when he blurted out; “I can’t Chloe, I actually have a date with someone”.  
  
Putain, putain, putain. Why the fuck did he just say that?  
  
“A date?” she asked, hurt spreading across her face.  
  
Well, he couldn’t back down now, could he?   
“Yeah, I’m uh, kind of seeing someone. I was going to tell you but I didn’t get the chance” he said, hoping she would leave it at that.   
He really wanted to get out of that bus stop right away. He looked over at Eliott one more time, who had now shifted his full attention to Lucas. Lucas made a weird face at him, hoping he’d understand how Lucas was literally panicking and was desperate for help.   
  
“Who are you seeing? I’ve never seen you with anyone?” Chloe asked, raising her voice.  
  
Putain, this was not how it was supposed to happen. In his head he had a well formulated text ready to send her during the weekend, in order to let her down gently.   
  
“It’s just- uh- someone I’ve met recently and uh- yeah”.   
“You’re lying aren’t you?” Chloe almost screamed at him, tears welling in her eyes.  
  
“No I swear – I would love to go out with you Chloe, but I’m seeing someone, we were just on a break and- yeah” he says. Wow he was actually pretty good at lying, when he was forced to do so.  
  
“Yeah? Well who is it then?” she asked, looking at him expectantly.  
  
Shit, he didn’t actually think of this part. Should he just come up with a random name and hope she wouldn’t bust him?  
  
“It’s uh- uh, you wouldn’t know- uh the person” he stammered, desperately scanning his brain for a name, any name, when..  
  
“It’s me” Eliott said, glaring at Chloe, almost daring her to question him.  
  
Lucas turned his head so fast he almost broke his damn neck. He looked at Eliott completely stunned. Did this guy, he met 5 minutes ago just tell Chloe that they were dating?   
Lucas didn’t have any time to process what happened, when Chloe said “Fuck you Lucas” and stormed off.  
  
Eliott looked at Lucas and smirked, “you’re welcome mec” he said and winked, as he got up, as the bus was approaching.   
  
What the hell just happened?


	2. Mon mec

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In order to get rid of Chloe, Eliott and Lucas pretend to be dating. But how long will it be just pretend?

Lucas woke up, feeling like shit.   
When he'd gotten home last night, all he wanted to do was go into his room and hide under his covers, never to resurface again. How did a simple foyer meeting turn into such a mess?  
He was still not over the courage of this guy - Eliott. Just casually telling some girl he didn't know, that he was dating Lucas, a guy he'd met only five minutes ago. 

Although Lucas felt horrible for hurting Chloe's feelings, he couldn't help but feel grateful for Eliott. He'd finally gotten rid of her, even though it wasn't exactly supposed to go down like this, he still felt like a chip had been lifted off his shoulders. 

But Lucas couldn't help the nagging feeling he got when he thought of how annoyed Eliott looked when Chloe was hitting on him. He had been focusing so intensely on Chloe that Lucas couldn't help but think that Eliott was interested in her. But then, why tell her he's dating a guy? 

Gosh, it was too early in the morning for this shit, Lucas thought as he pulled the covers over his face, planning on sleeping the entire weekend away. 

**__**

Lucas was sitting in French class, barely paying attention to what the teacher was saying. French was his least favorite subject, mainly because he found it boring as hell and he was definitely more into biology and math. The boys always teased him, calling him a weirdo for liking math, but they weren't complaining when he helped them with their homework.   
  
Lucas looked out the window, watching Daphné and Manon having a, semingly very interesting, conversation on the bench outside. He smiled to himself. The girls had really become some of his closest friends lately, and even though he would never admit it, he secretly loved gossiping and drinking wine with them on Friday nights.  
  
Suddenly Lucas noticed a tall messy-haired figure passing by the bench. His heart skipped a beat. It was Eliott. His blue-eyed mystery savior. Well, maybe savior was a bit of a stretch, but Lucas definitely thought that he should find him later today and thank him.   
He hadn't had any luck finding him on social media during the weekend. He spent almost two hours searching for every Eliott in Paris, but no hit. The guy really was a mystery. 

Lucas was interrupted by a vibration from his phone. It was from the gang, in their group chat.

 **Basille:** What the fuck Lucas, you're dating the new guy??

Lucas froze. Fuck, who had told him? 

 **Arthur:** Yeah I heard some girls talking about it as well. You finally managed to trick a guy into dating you?

Putain, this wasn't good. Both Basile and Arthur had heard it, which must mean that people were talking about it. Fuck, he should have texted Chloe Friday after she left, clearing the air. 

Another vibration went off on his phone. A private message from Yann:

 **Yann:** Dude what’s all this with you dating the new guy? Why didn’t you tell me anything?

Lucas was really starting to panic right now, what was he supposed to do? Should he just tell them all that it was a misunderstanding? But what about Chloe, she’d apparently told everyone, and if he didn’t stick to the story, she’d probably tell everyone what a liar and asshole he was.  
Fuck this, Lucas thought as he typed a reply to Yann: 

 **Lucas:** Yeah, but it’s all pretty new so that’s why I didn’t tell you. I wanted to wait, but apparently the rumors got ahead of me haha

He closed the conversation and opened the group chat

 **Lucas:** Calm down guys. It’s true, but we’ve only met up a few times

More like 5 minutes, Lucas thought to himself, as he continued his reply;

 **Lucas:** Can you just keep cool, it’s nothing serious.

Exactly 30 seconds went by, when a new text popped up

 **Yann:** Shit, I’m so happy for you bro, you deserve this. Bring him to the party on Friday, yeah?

 **Basille:** Yes you have to bring him!! We need to meet your new mec

 **Arthur:** Tell him that weed is on me!

 **Basille** : Wait did you guys bone yet??

 **Arthur:** Basille please stop or we’ll block your number

Lucas quickly closed the chat as the bell rang and he basically ran out of the classroom to the nearest restroom.  
He was completely fucked, what did he do? He shouldn’t have told the guys that it was true. He should definitely have told them the truth, but that meant telling them that he was strictly into guys and that’s why he needed to get rid of Chloe, and he didn’t really feel like doing that right now either.  
  
Okay think Lucas, think. What to do?

The truth was that he already knew what he had to do, but oh dear god how he wished he could avoid it.  
Truth be told, he did really want to see Eliott again and unravel the mystery that he seemed to be. But going up to a devilishly handsome guy, and asking him to pretend to be dating you, at a party with your friends, wasn’t really on Lucas’ to do list today.

Fuck it, he was going to do it. He would find Eliott after school and ask him. After all, Eliott was the one that had gotten them into this mess right? If he hadn’t said anything, Lucas would have made up some girls’ name and Chloe would have left him alone.  
But that would also have meant that Eliott and him probably wouldn’t talk again. Did Eliott know this was going to happen?

Snap out of it Lucas, of course he didn’t, he’s not a clairvoyant. Although Lucas wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. He’d only met and talked to him for five minutes and he had left Lucas shook for the next 48 hours. How was he even going to be able to have a proper conversation, let alone ask him out on a fake-date, after school?

__

Lucas spent the rest of the day hiding from his friends while simultaneously looking for Eliott, which wasn’t an easy task.  
Their school was pretty big and he had absolutely no idea where to start looking. Would he be eating his lunch in the cafeteria? What people would he be hanging out with? Was he the outdoor type who brought his lunch out on the benches in the school yard?

Lucas didn’t know anything about the boy except that he was drop dead gorgeous, and apparently his boyfriend now, at least to everyone else.

After his last class, Lucas had given up on finding Eliott. He had looked everywhere, been to every corridor in school, but no sign of Eliott. He couldn’t really ask anyone, I mean asking what classes your supposed boyfriend went to, seemed a bit suspicious, no?

He had managed to get through the day without bumping into the gang, sending them a text saying he wouldn’t be able to make lunch because he had to study at the library.

The library was the only place he hadn’t been to, so he thought he’d try his luck before he went home and tried again tomorrow.

The library was in the school basement, a place he’d never set his foot during the two years he’d gone to school. He was pretty sure no one actually went to the library, and he imagined it as a dark and dusty room, almost like something out of a horror movie.

  
To his surprise the library was surprisingly nice. The librarian was sitting behind her desk reading a book, looking up and smiling at him. He smiled back and went inside.

He walked directly to the section with the tables and computers. There was no one there. Lucas sighed and got ready to leave, when he saw a section that caught his attention ‘literature on music’. He walked through the section, his fingers gliding along the dusted books, thinking back to his childhood. How his mother and him would spend hours listening to different kinds of music, talking about one particular song for hours, listening to it over and over again until they both knew the words by heart.

“Hey you” a voice said in a hushed voice

Lucas looked down and there he was.. Eliott. Sitting with his back against the radiator, pencils and notebooks scattered everywhere, covered in drawings of some sort of animal that looked like a rat with a mask on, from where Lucas was standing.

Lucas had thought about Eliott more times than he was willing to admit, this weekend. His messy hair, his blue eyes, his angelic smile. But his memory had completely failed him. Because Eliott was so much more dashing than he remembered him. Sitting there with a pencil behind his right ear, another one in his mouth, chewed down. He was wearing a white t-shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his biceps, where the veins were painfully visible. Lucas swallowed, his mouth felt dry as a desert.

“Hey” he managed to say “I didn’t think anyone actually used the library” he continued, desperate to start a conversation.

Eliott laughed, a genuine and beautiful laugh. 

“Yeah I’m a bit _chelou_ like that” he giggled and continued; “What are you doing here then?”

Lucas swallowed again. Okay here goes all or nothing he thought.

“I was actually looking for you”

“Oh?” Eliott looked genuinely puzzled.

“Yeah, I um- wanted to talk to you.. about uhm, what happened Friday night” he managed.

The playful smile was back on Eliott’s face.

“What happened?” he smirked.

Putain, why was he doing this. He was really going to make Lucas say it wasn’t he?

“Well you- uhm, you told Chloe we were dating”

“Did I do something wrong?” he began to look concerned now “I just got the feeling you were desperate for some saving, and I’m a sucker for damsels in distress” he joked, trying to ease the tension.

He imagined what he must have looked like in Eliott’s eyes that night.. like a complete idiot.

“No you didn’t do anything wrong” he assured him “you’re right, I was desperate, you really saved my ass, thanks” he mumbled.

“No worries mec” Eliott beamed. He looked so proud of himself and Lucas found him completely and utterly endearing.

He wasn’t sure how to proceed, so he decided to look at a particular interesting spot on the floor, until Eliott broke the silence.

“Was that why you were looking for me? To say thanks?”

“Not exactly” Lucas admitted, looking up at Eliott.

Eliott was looking intensely at Lucas, he looked genuinely interested in what Lucas had to say. The eye contact was too much for Lucas, he felt like he could drown in those eyes if he kept looking into them. His eyes started wandering, settling on the pencil behind Eliott’s ear.

“So the thing is that there are rumors going around at school” he finally managed.

“What kind of rumors?”

“That we’re uhm.. well that we’re dating”

Lucas was afraid to look into Eliott’s eyes. Afraid to see regret or disgust that people thought they were actually dating. But when he finally caught his eyes, he didn’t see any of those emotions. Eliott was just looking at Lucas curiously, willing him to continue, so he did.

“And well, all of my friends thinks we’re dating, and I didn’t really know how to tell them that I lied. So now they’re all expecting me to bring my date.. I mean you, to a party on Friday and I totally get if you think that’s too much or too weird, but I swear it’s just for one night and then I promise I’ll tell them that we broke it off and-“

Lucas was babbling, unable to stop himself. Afraid that if he stopped talking, Eliott would answer and tell Lucas to fuck off, that he was just trying to be nice, but he wasn’t interested in going to some party with him. But he was interrupted by Eliott;

“Sure, why not? I haven’t been to a party in ages anyway” he laughed. Eliott genuinely seemed amused by the whole situation whilst Lucas just wanted to dig himself into a hole and never reappear again.

“Are you for real? You’d do that?”

“Well it’s because of me that you’re in this mess right?”

“I mean- I guess” Lucas answered, still trying to process the fact that Eliott didn’t seem to be completely weirded out by him.

“Well now that I think about it, yeah it is pretty much your fault” Lucas joked, hoping that his joking demeanor would convince Eliott that this party was only a one-time thing and that Lucas was only asking because he didn’t have any other choice.

“Well then I better take responsibility for my actions, huh?” Eliott joked

“Yes definitely, it’s the least you can do”

“Well I guess I’ll see you Friday then.. honey” he winked at Lucas, as a wide grin spread across his face, obviously very pleased with his joke.  
Lucas couldn’t contain his laughter; this guy was definitely the cutest thing he’d ever laid his eyes on, and even though he’d never admit it to himself, he couldn’t wait for Friday to come.

“Yeah see you Friday Eliott” he said as he hurried out of the library, afraid that if he stayed for another minute he’d say something stupid and Eliott would change his mind.

As soon as he stepped out of the library, he felt a hand on his shoulders, and it sent absolute shivers down his spine.

“Maybe we should exchange numbers? You know so we can meet up and go to the party together, so it doesn’t look suspicious?” Eliott said, his hand still lingering on Lucas’ shoulder until he turned around.

“Yeah, of course” he answered as he handed his phone to Eliott, still affected by the previous warm touch on his shoulder.

Eliott wrote his number down, “alright, see you Friday then” he said, handing the phone back to Lucas, turning around and going back to his spot by the radiator.

Lucas looked down at his phone and looked at the newly added contact, named: Mon mec <3


	3. Never again

”Oh my God Lucas, just pick a fucking shirt, they all look the same” Basile grunted.

The boys had spent the last hour in the same mens-wear shop, trying to find a new shirt for Lucas to wear to the party tomorrow.

”Honestly Lucas, you’re already dating the guy, why are you so stressed out?” Arthur asked sympathetically, while Yann picked up two shirts and headed for the dressing room.

”Fuck off, I just thought it would be nice to look good for once, it has nothing to do with him” Lucas said, not completely being able to hide his blush. 

He had never been the type to care about what he was wearing, but even though he’d rather eat dirt than admit it, he was probably trying harder because he wanted to impress Eliott. He knew he didn’t stand a chance anyway, and Eliott was just helping him out to be friendly, probably because he didn’t have many friends at his new school, but he couldn’t help but want to look a bit different at the party, and maybe, just maybe impress Eliott a little bit.

“Fuck it, I’ll just wear the same shit I usually wear, let’s go get something to eat, I’m starving” he said, giving up on trying to find anything nice. Everything he’d tried on was either way too expensive or way too .. _not him._

“FINALLY, I was beginning to think I’d have to eat the granola bar that’s been in my bag for four years” Basille exclaimed, almost running out of the shop.

“Yeah, let me just pay for this and we can get out” Yann said, fishing for his wallet in his bag.

After they exited the shop, they found a nice little café with cheap pizzas and beers to hang out at. It was nice to chill with the boys, they didn’t do this kind of stuff often, but when they did, Lucas always enjoyed it, even though they drove him mad half the time. This time was no exception. They’d all been grilling him about Eliott all week, and Lucas had successfully avoided the topic every time.

“So tell us something about this mystery guy” Yan said, while cutting his pizza with the shitty plastic knife and fork the café had given them.

“I already told you guys a thousand times, there’s not much to say. We’ve just hung out a few times and well, yeah we’re seeing each other I guess” Lucas answered, trying to avoid the topic yet again.

“Nu-uh” Basile said taking a sip of his beer, “you’re not getting off the hook so easy this time. Tell us something about him, I mean how did you manage to hook up with him? He looks like an actual model, if I was gay or bi or whatever, he’d be on my TO-DO list” he said laughing at his own joke.

Lucas couldn’t argue with that. Eliott did look like a model. His perfectly messy hair, his signature brown jacket, and those eyes.. those eyes that Lucas saw every time he closed his eyes, were out of this world. But what did Lucas actually know about Eliott? He knew that he was absolutely stunning, that he apparently was interested in the foyer, he had no social media (none that Lucas could find anyway) and that he drew weird looking rats in the library alone. It wasn’t much to go on, and if this whole pretending to date thing was going to work, he needed more. He pulled out his phone and found his newly added contact: Mon mec <3

 **Lucas:** Tell me three things I should know about you

As soon as he hit the send button, he started worrying. That was a weird text to send out of the blue right? Shit Eliott didn’t even have his number, he should probably tell him who’s texting.

 **Lucas:** This is Lucas btw.

 **Lucas:** Your pretend mec, haha 

_Read_

Putain, what the hell was that mess? He’d sent three incoherent messages and not surprisingly Eliott left him on read. Fuck, was he even going to show up to the party tomorrow after Lucas sent him weird ass shit like that?

“Are you texting your boyfriend?” Arthur asked, mouth full of peperoni pizza, oil dripping down his chin.

 “Nah, it’s Mika, he forgot his keys, so I have to head back, see you guys tomorrow” he said, desperate to get out of there, go home and bang his head against the wall until brain cells, that he obviously didn’t have, magically started to appear.

“Okay, see you tomorrow man, can’t wait to meet Eliott” Yann said, with such an honest smile that it broke Lucas’ heart. He really hated lying to his friends, especially Yann. 

“Yeah, he can’t wait to meet you guys either” he answered, putting on his scarf, feeling like an absolutely horrible friend.

____

When he finally got home he threw himself on the bed and yanked his phone out of his pocket. Still no answer from Eliott. Of course not, why would he answer such silly messages from a complete stranger?  
While Lucas was contemplating how to tell the boys that Eliott would not attend the party tomorrow, without letting them know that he’d been lying he heard a _pling_.

 **Eliott:** Phew, you just go straight to the personal questions, huh Lucas?

Shit, he’d offended Eliott. Of course he had. He could have at least started off with a ‘hey’ or a ‘thanks for agreeing to be my pretend boyfriend and going to a party with a bunch of people you don’t know’.

 **Lucas:** I’m so sorry, I know that was totally out of the blue and weird

 **Eliott:** Hahah, I’m kidding Lucas.

Lucas felt a weight lift off his chest. So Eliott wasn’t upset with him?

 **Eliott:** I’ve actually just spent the last hour thinking of a good answer and I think I have it, are you ready?

 **Lucas:** I’m ready, hit me

His heart starting racing out of nowhere. The prospect of getting to know Eliott, even if it was just three facts, had him sitting on the edge of his bed, tapping his foot on the floor in pure anticipation.

 **Eliott:** 1\. My spirit animal is a raccoon. 2. My favorite music is dubstep. 3. You’ll have to earn the third.

Lucas read and reread the message for what might have been ten times. Dubstep? Really? How was this mystery guy, who looked and talked like an actual angel, into freaking dubstep?  
Also, a spirit animal? Lucas had never even considered what his might be, but God, Eliott was an actual dork.

 **Lucas:** How do I earn the third?

 **Eliott:** I’m sure you’ll figure something out.

Shit, was Eliott flirting with him, or was Lucas just imagining things? He decided not to dwell on it and continued tapping on his phone, forming a response quickly, so Eliott didn’t think he’d left him on read.

 **Lucas:** So those rats with masks on them that you were drawing in the library were actually raccoons?

 **Eliott:** RATS?! Wow Lucas, you’re already breaking my heart and we’ve only been dating for a week.

His heart started racing. He felt kind of sorry for teasing Eliott about his drawings, but he couldn’t help himself. He wondered if Eliott also had a huge grin plastered on his face right now, because Lucas sure as shit did.

 **Lucas:** I’m a real heartbreaker, sorry

 **Eliott:** Yeah, I noticed at the bus stop, no mercy huh?

 **Eliott:** So it’s your turn now, no?

The grin that had been dominating his face during the entire conversation fell as soon as he saw the message. Eliott had probably, maybe, meant it as a joke, but the prospect of Eliott thinking he was cold hearted, made him want to cry.

 **Lucas:** Actually, I’ve got to go, I have a ton of homework. See you tomorrow at the party.

 **Eliott:** Okay, see you tomorrow.

He threw his phone on the other side of the bed and buried his face in his pillows. He definitely wasn’t ready for tomorrow.

______

Lucas was standing in front of the bathroom mirror trying to tame his hair. He’d been in need of a haircut for a while now, but he barely had money to pay the rent, so spending money on a haircut was the furthest from his mind, when Mika barged in.  
“Looking good kitten, meeting up with your new man?” he said, toying with Lucas’ hair.  
“Yeah, we’re going to a party tonight” he answered, swatting away Mikas hands.  
“Bring him over to the apartment some time, I have to approve before you take the next step you know” he said, still playing with Lucas’ hair, not getting the hint. “Need to see what his intentions are with our little kitten” he continued, laughing.

“Gosh, can you please fuck off Mika, the last thing I need is you scaring him away with your sex talk” Lucas answered, starting to get slightly annoyed.  
“Gee always so touchy, you know you have to loosen up a bit, or you’ll never get any dick” he exclaimed, finally pulling his hands away in defeat. “Have fun, remember to use a condom” he finished with a wink, leaving Lucas’ hair in a worse state than it was to begin with.

As soon as Lucas left the apartment he regretted not bringing his scarf. The cool night air was already starting to sting, and he could feel his ears starting to cramp from the cold.

He’d agreed to meet Eliott halfway, so they could arrive together, making the whole thing seem more believable. 

“Salut” he heard a voice from behind.  
There he was, Eliott Demaury in all his glory. He looked stunning as always, wearing a white t-shirt, a skin tight leather jacket and skinny denim jeans, showing off his perfect figure. Lucas was pretty sure his mouth was starting to water, but he tried not to dwell too much on it.

“Salut” he answered, trying to sound nonchalant, and probably failing miserably.

“Let’s go” Eliott said as he started walking. Lucas was struggling to keep up, seeing as Eliott’s legs were much longer than his, almost jogging next to the taller boy.  
  
As they walked, it almost felt like they’d known each other for ages. Lucas kept joking about the raccoon drawings, while Eliott dramatically clutched his chest, as if Lucas was breaking his heart all over again. They talked about music, which subjects they liked and disliked, which movies they liked (Eliott’s favorite was Titanic, how cliché), until they finally circled back to the drawings.  

“You know for someone who looks so innocent, you sure can be a sarcastic little shit” Eliott laughed, after Lucas, once again, had made fun of the drawings.  
  
“I’m sorry. And I don’t look innocent” he said, another laugh escaping him.  
  
“Yeah you do. You’re short but spikey” Eliott said continuing “you know what you remind me of?”  
  
“What?” Lucas said, looking up at the taller boy, clinging on to every word he said.  
  
“A hedgehog” he said, bursting into giggles.

“A what?! I do NOT look like a hedgehog” Lucas exclaimed, trying to look upset, but he was pretty sure the huge ass grin on his face gave him away.  
  
“Whatever you say, but I’m pretty sure that a hedgehog is your spirit animal” Eliott said, lightly puffing Lucas shoulder.  
  
Lucas couldn’t help but smile at how cute Eliott looked when he was smiling and joking and he wished that they could just keep walking for hours, talking and laughing.

As they reached the apartment, Eliott swung his arm around Lucas, who involuntarily flinched.  
“Calm down, it’s just for show right?” Eliott said, seemingly amused by the expression on Lucas’ face. “Yeah, sorry” he answered, staring down at the ground.

As soon as they entered the smoke filled apartment, they were greeted with his loud friends.  
“LUCAAAAAAS” Basille screamed, trying to drown out the music.

Yann shook Eliott’s hand, introducing himself as Lucas’ best friend, and Lucas felt a pang of guilt wash over him again. He really hated lying to his friends.

After the boys had introduced themselves, they all went out onto the balcony, where Arthur was trying to roll a joint, but failing miserably, having drunken one beer too many.

“Here, let me” Eliott said, reaching out and taking the paper and weed from Arthurs trembling hands.  
“Damn, good looking and good with his hands, what a catch Lucas” Basile exclaimed, and Lucas had a sudden urge to throw him over the balcony.

“I’m the one who got lucky” Eliott said with a wink, not taking his eyes off Lucas.  
He couldn’t help think of, how in another universe, they were actually dating, and he was happy and contempt with his friends and his gorgeous boyfriend getting along. But right here, right now, it all felt a little bit too much, and Eliott’s gaze made him feel sad about all the things he wished he could have but didn’t.

“It’s getting pretty cold, I think I’m going to head inside” Lucas said, grabbing his beer from the balcony floor. “I’ll go with you, here you go” Eliott said handing over the joint to Arthur, “nice to meet you guys, we’ll catch up later” he continued as he swung his arm around Lucas, and opened the balcony door for him. They had only been doing this for an hour or so, but it was already proving very difficult for Lucas to handle it. Every move Eliott made, seemed effortless and natural, he almost let himself believe for a second that they weren’t pretending.

They headed inside, and got comfortable on a couch in the corner.  
  
“Your friends are cool” Eliott said, taking a sip of his beer.  
  
“Yeah they’re great, they can be a pain in the ass, but they’re really the best friends a guy could wish for” Lucas answered honestly.  
  
“I’m jealous of you, you know” Eliott said, staring intensely at Lucas.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“You have these great friends, and I can tell how much they care about you just by the way they were trying to impress me, it’s adorable” Eliott said, his smile dropping faintly.  
  
“I’m sure your friends are great as well” he answered, trying to cheer Eliott up, desperate to see him smile again.  
  
“Yeah, something like that” he said, putting the beer bottle to his mouth, almost finishing it in one sip. “I’m gonna get another one, can I get you anything mon mec?” he asked a playful smile lingering on his lips. “No I’m good, thanks” Lucas said, a faint blush appearing.

Eliott had been gone for almost twenty minutes and Lucas was starting to get worried. As he was getting up to look for him, a guy came over and sat down next to him. Lucas looked at him, and got the feeling he’d seen the guy before, but he couldn’t quite make him out. He had long blond hair, tied up in a tight bun, wearing a navy blue shirt and a silver necklace around his neck.  
  
“Salut, I’m Curtis” he said, handing Lucas a new beer.  
  
“Salut, Lucas” he answered, still scanning the room for Eliott.

“Why do I get the feeling that I’ve seen you before?” he asked, confirming Lucas’ suspicion that he looked familiar.  
  
“I’m not sure, but I think I’ve seen you before as well” he answered, not fully committing to the conversation, still concerned about Eliott’s whereabouts.

“I’m friends with Idriss, maybe you know Imane?” the guy said, scanning Lucas’ face, trying to catch his eye. “Are you looking for someone?” he finally asked.

“Yeah sorry, I’m looking for my uh.. my-my boyfriend, Eliott” Lucas said, feeling awkward saying the lie out loud to a stranger.  
  
“Eliott is your boyfriend?” the guy asked, looking surprised.

“Yeah, uhm why- do you know him?” Lucas answered, nervous that he’d overstepped, by calling Eliott his boyfriend to someone who might actually know him.

“I don’t know him personally, but Idriss mentioned him a few times” he said, continuing “but uhm I saw Eliott on my way over here. He went into a room with Lucille, his ex-girlfriend” he said, looking slightly uncomfortable.  
“His what?” Lucas asked, his heart stopping for a few seconds. Eliott had an ex-girlfriend? Here at the party? Why hadn’t he told him?  
  
“Yeah, I recognized her from some photos Idriss showed me of them a while back” Curtis continued.

Lucas could feel the heat rising to his face. He felt like he’d been completely fucked over. If Eliott wanted to hang out with his ex, which probably wasn’t an ex anymore if they’d spent such a long time alone in a room, he could have just told him.

 “Hey, come on, I’m sure they’re just talking” Curtis said, trying to cheer Lucas up, who was now busy fiddling with the sticker on his beer, trying to hold the tears at bay. Why was he so upset? Eliott had upheld his part of the deal, he’d met his friends as Lucas had asked, so he probably thought it was done and over with.  
“I have an idea, let’s get some shots huh?” the blonde said, getting up and pulling Lucas up with him, dragging him into the kitchen.

Ten minutes and five shots later, Lucas was absolutely fucked. His vision was blury and he could feel himself babbling, not sure what words were coming out of his mouth, but apparently Curtis, who hadn’t stopped laughing for two whole minutes, found it very entertaining.  
“Can I tell you a secret” Lucas said leaning into Curtis, almost whispering in his ear.  
  
“Yeah, shoot”  
  
“Eliott and I aren’t actually dating” he said bursting out in laughter. It all seemed so funny and stupid right now. They hadn’t even been able to keep up the act for one night before Eliott was off with his ex and Lucas was spilling the secret to strangers.

“Come again?” Curtis said, seemingly confused.

  
“Yeah, we’re just pretending, it’s aaaaaall fun and games” Lucas continued, still laughing like a maniac.  
  
“But why?”

“Was trying” he was literally struggling for air, it all seemed so silly right now, he couldn’t stop laughing, “to get rid of a girl” he finally managed, taking another shot, almost spitting it out in the process, not being able to contain his laughter.

“Wow, that’s.. that’s a relief” Curtis finally said.  
  
“Huh?” Lucas had finally stopped laughing and looked at Curtis, for the first time tonight he noticed how he was actually quite handsome. Not Lucas’ type at all, blondes just weren’t his thing, but he was definitely good-looking.

 **“** That means that I get to ask you out, what do you say” Curtis said, flashing a smile at Lucas.

Lucas wasn’t sure what was happening, but he found himself giggling “suuuuure thing” he managed, between giggles. He was definitely too drunk, because this guy couldn’t actually just have asked him out right? And what had he answered? He suddenly couldn’t remember anything.  
But before he had time to process what just happened, and what he’d said, he felt his stomach turning. Without a word, he ran to the bathroom, knocking over some girl in the process, desperate to reach the toilet before he spilled his insides all over the floor.

After five minutes, Lucas had thrown up everything he’d drank all night and probably all of his meals the past five days. He managed to get up and wash his mouth and face, and got out of the bathroom, desperately looking for his jacket. He needed air, he needed to get out of here, when a hand touched his shoulders.  
  
“Eliott?” he said turning around, not able to hide his disappointment when he saw the blonde guy before him.  
  
“Hey are you okay? You just ran away, and locked yourself inside the bathroom, I was getting worried”

“Yeah I’m f-fine” he managed “have you seen Eliott?”

“He left with Lucille, I think” Curtis said, not meeting Lucas’ eyes.  
  
“Oh.. of-c-of course.. I should go as well”

“Want me to walk you home?” Curtis asked, hand still on Lucas’ shoulder.

“No, no, I’m good, I’ll see you later yeah?” he said, grabbing his coat from the couch and practically sprinting out of the apartment.

He wasn’t sure how or when he got home, but he finally managed to get to the apartment and throw himself on the bed, not bothering to take off his clothes.  
‘Never drinking again’, he thought to himself, closing his eyes, trying to will the room not to spin, never again.

 


	4. It's a date

Lucas woke up with a splitting headache. His mouth felt dry as a desert and the room was indeed still spinning. He grabbed his water bottle from the nightstand and drank it all in one go. Yesterday was all a bit of a blur, he remembered sitting on the couch with Eliott, talking. Eliott disappearing and then himself, drinking shots with some guy. What was the guy’s name again? Conan? Conrad? Lucas couldn’t remember, but he did remember him saying that Eliott had been talking to his ex-girlfriend. He felt his stomach starting to churn, and he wasn’t quite sure if it was the hangover and the fact that he hadn’t eaten in over 24 hours, or if it was the thought of Eliott bailing on him with his ex. Ex- _girlfriend_ , so Eliott was into girls.

He grabbed his phone from his jacket pocket, which had been thrown on the floor next to him. Six unread messages, the first two was from the group chat with the boys.

 **(23:55) Yann:** Yo Lucas, where did you go? Eliott is asking for you

 **(00:04) Arthur:** Lucas are you okay? Some of the girls said they’d seen you ran out in a hurry. Did you have too much to drink again haha

Eliott was asking for him? Hadn’t Eliott left before him? He quickly typed in a reply, not wanting to worry the guys.

 **Lucas:**  Hey I’m good, I just had one shot too many, had to go home and sleep it off.

As he exited the chat he saw four unread messages from Eliott.

 **(22:50) Eliott:** Hey I have to leave for an hour or so, I’m really sorry but something came up. I’ll be back as fast as I can, don’t go anywhere, I’ll explain later. 

Lucas hadn’t checked his phone at all last night after Eliott disappeared. He felt a warmth surge through him, when he realized that Eliott hadn’t just left without saying anything. But the feeling didn’t last long. ‘Something came up’? Was that ‘something’ his ex? Had Eliott really left him alone at the party, to go God-knows-where, with his ex?

 **(00:01) Eliott:** Where are you, I’ve been looking for you for ages, I’m really sorry I left.

 **(00:10) Eliott:** Someone said you left in a hurry. I hope everything is okay?

 **(01:20) Eliott:** Lucas, can you please text me when you see this?

Eliott had actually come back to the party as he’d said he would. Lucas checked what time Eliott had sent the other messages, to see how long he’d been away. An hour, Eliott had been away for an hour with his ex-girlfriend.  
It’s not like Lucas thought it was an actual date, he knew that Eliott was doing him a favour, and he had no right to be upset, but still, he couldn’t help the feeling of betrayal creeping up on him. He’d thought they were having fun, talking, laughing, getting to know each other. So why had Eliott left? And why had he come back? The confusion was too much for a hungover Saturday, so he typed in a quick response, secretly hoping that Eliott wouldn’t answer, so he could go back to sleep and wallow in self-pity.

 **Lucas:** Hey, I’m fine, I just had a bit too much to drink so I left.

Not even one minute later a reply came.

 **Eliott:** Good, I’m glad you’re okay. You had me worried there.

Worried? If he was so worried, then why the fuck did he just bail on him like that?  
He knew he was being petty as he was typing his response, but he just couldn’t help himself. 

 **Lucas:** No need to worry. Met a really cool guy, hung out with him the rest of the night, so it was all good.

He could feel his heart starting to race faster. Why did he write that? It’s not like Eliott was going to be jealous, he didn’t care, he wasn’t even into boys for God’s sake. But still, there had been moments yesterday when Lucas had allowed himself to hope, if only for a split second, that this thing between him and Eliott could be real.  
He was such a dumbass, he always had been and always would be.  

 **Eliott:** Okay, cool.

He threw his head on the pillow and let out what must have sounded like a whale sighing. Eliott was the human equivalent of a rubiks cube, and Lucas had, to his dismay, never been able to solve one of those in his entire life.  
The memory of 10-year old Lucas throwing a rubiks cube into the wall and crying out of sheer frustration came back to him. It had been a gift from his father, and he had been desperate to solve it, so he could show him and make him proud, always desperate to please him. But he never had succeeded in either one of those things.

He could feel his phone vibrate again and he grabbed it embarrassingly fast, hoping for another message from Eliott.  
  
**_@curtisno1 started following you_**

Curtis, that was the guy’s name, Lucas thought as he opened up the Instagram app, looking through the guy’s photos. He looked slightly younger in his photos than he did yesterday, but then again, Lucas had been completely fucked, so it might just have been his memory failing him.  
He hit the follow button, and exited the app as he closed his eyes and welcomed the sleep he had been deprived of last night.

As he closed his eyes, he tried to space out and not think of the fact that that was probably the last time he’d talked to Eliott. Yeah they’d greet each other in the hallways, but Eliott had upheld his part of the deal. Lucas would have to tell the boys (and everyone else) that they’d broken up, so he could let Eliott off the hook. But still, flashes of beautiful blue eyes, slightly puffy and pink lips, and messy brown hair kept appearing, until sleep finally gave him release he’d been craving.

__

“Ugh Lucas, your room smells worse than my piss after eating asparagus” Mika exclaimed, drawing the curtains and opening the window in his room.

He had spent the whole weekend watching stupid comedies on Netflix, intentionally ignoring the massive pile of homework that was basically screaming ‘do me’ at him. Surprisingly he had slept through the entire night, but even though he felt well-rested, he didn’t quite have the energy to deal with Mika on a Monday morning.

“Mika please leave, it’s my room, I payed for it” he said, pulling the covers over his head, in an attempt to block out the sunlight.

“You barely pay rent, and also you’re going to be late for school if you don’t get that tight ass of yours out of bed” he said, pulling the covers away from Lucas.

“Shit, what time is it?” he said, suddenly painfully aware of just how bright it was, he must have slept through his alarm.

“It’s 7:40, and even though I don’t go to school anymore, I’m pretty sure classes still start at the same time they did when I was young and tight”.

Lucas didn’t even bother answering him, too busy putting on the first pair of pants and t-shirt he could get his hands on, and exactly 10 minutes later he was out of the door.  
He arrived at school with two minutes to spare, which was a complete miracle. What wasn’t a miracle was the way he looked. On the bus ride he noticed a big yellow stain on the t-shirt he was wearing, cursing under his breath, he’d tried rubbing it away with his spit and thumb, but it had only made it worse and to top it off, he’d forgotten his biology and math books at home on his desk.

It had been a stressful day to say the least, so when lunch break came, he almost ran to the cafeteria, desperate for food.

“Yo bro” Yann said, dumping his tray next to Lucas, followed by Basile and Arthur.  
  
“Well you look like shit today” Basile said, eyeing Lucas, looking almost disgusted.  
  
“Thanks, I felt bad that you were always the ugly one, so I thought I’d help a bro out for once” Lucas shot back, always ready to shoot down Basile.  
  
“Daaaaaaayum” both Yann and Arthur yelled, laughing and high-fiving Lucas, leaving Basile as the loser as usual.

“Yeah yeah whatever” Basile muttered, as he shoved his face with lasagna.

“So, what happened to you and Eliott on Friday?” Yann suddenly asked, nudging Lucas’ shoulder.  
  
It’s not like Lucas didn’t expect them to ask about Eliott today, but he had thought that he’d have time to make up a cover story. But the whole day had just been so stressful that he’d completely forgotten about the fact that he had to tell the boys that he and Eliott were not a thing anymore. He cursed under his breath, vowing never to snooze his alarm ever again.  
  
“Uhm, not much I guess? I just went home early, wasn’t feeling well” he managed, hoping they’d leave it at that.  
  
Yann gave him a glance that gave Lucas the impression, that he wasn’t completely buying the story. Nevertheless, he offered; “He’s a really cool guy though, I liked him”.

“Bro, he was looking for you for ages, I felt so bad for the dude, I thought you’d dumped him or something” Basile said chuckling, “We had to calm him down and tell him you’d probably just gotten too drunk” he continued.

“It’s true” Arthur chimed in “he was really worried, so we got worried as well, but we figured you’d just went home”

“Yeah, thanks” Lucas muttered, not exactly sure how to proceed. He felt a strange surge of pride by the fact that Eliott had seemed genuinely worried. But then again, Eliott was an incredibly good actor, he’d almost fooled Lucas as well, he thought, bringing himself down to earth. He had to tell the guys now, before he lost his nerve.  
  
“So I have to tell you guys so-“ he started, before he was caught off by a warm hand on his shoulder, gently nudging him. He already knew who the hand belonged to before he turned around, as if already having memorized Eliott’s touch.

He turned around, and there he was, taking Lucas’ breath away once again. Eliott looked tired, as if he hadn’t slept much, and he had a sudden urge to wrap him into a blanket and take care of him.  
  
“Salut” Eliott said, addressing the guys, who all looked way too pleased to see him, given the fact that they’d only met him once. It must be the Eliott effect, Lucas thought.  
  
“Can we talk in private?” he said, looking at Lucas this time.

“Sure” he answered, getting up from his seat, secretly thanking Eliott for interrupting them at just the right moment.

Eliott led the way, and Lucas followed him, down to the basement into the library. When they reached the spot by the radiators, Eliott finally turned around and looked at Lucas, with a serious expression on his face.

“I’m really sorry about Friday. I uh- met my ex” he said fidgeting with his backpack strap.

“Oh?” Lucas said, looking anywhere but directly at Eliott.

“Yeah, I told her that I was dating someone new, and she kind of freaked out so I had to try and calm her down, and it just ended up taking a lot longer than I thought” he said, surprising Lucas.  
He’d told his ex-girlfriend that he was dating Lucas?

“You told her you’re dating me? Why?”

“Well everyone already thinks we’re dating, and honestly I’ve been trying to tell her it’s over for a while, but she won’t really accept it, so this whole thing might actually benefit me as well” Eliott answered, trying to catch Lucas’ gaze.

Was it just Lucas or did Eliott actually look nervous? 

“Oh.. I didn’t realize that we were going to keep doing this” he replied, not sure of what to say, so deciding to be honest.   

“You want to call quits already?” Eliott asked, looking almost sad, or was Lucas just imagining things?

“No I-uhm.. I mean no, not if you’re up for it. I mean I was kind of dreading telling the guys that we weren’t together anymore and you know, Chloe might get suspicious so..” he trailed off, not sure what he was trying to say and pretty sure he wasn’t making any sense at all. It was just all confusing and overwhelming. Eliott hadn’t ditched Lucas at the party, he’d told his ex that he was dating Lucas. So here they were, there was no turning back.

“Cool, it’s a deal then. We keep doing this for a while. At least until Lucille and Chloe start to move on, right?”

“It’s a deal” Lucas said, finally looking directly at Eliott. He couldn’t help but smile a bit to himself, this meant that he’d get to spend more time with Eliott, get to know him better, which was all he’d wanted from the moment he laid eyes on him.

Before Lucas could register what was happening, Eliott was impossibly close, cupping his face in his hands.

“Don’t freak out, but Chloe is right behind you, and she is staring” he whispered, as he took Lucas by surprise and moved in close, so close, and planted a kiss on his lips. His lips were slightly damp, and ever so soft, it almost felt like being stroked with a feather, but it was over before Lucas could even register, let alone respond to the touch.

If Lucas could have one wish, it would be that Eliott did _that_ again, so he could savour the moment, bottle it up and put it under his pillow for safekeeping.   
Eliott was still cupping his face, looking him in the eyes, almost daring him to say something, do something, anything. But Lucas just stood there looking dumbfounded at him.

“Is- uhm- is she still there?” he asked, desperate to get out of the library and away from Eliott before he lost all his self-control and went in for another kiss. Desperate to taste those soft lips, he’d been dreaming about. He could feel his cheeks burning underneath Eliott’s touch. His hands were so soft, Lucas wondered how they’d feel stroking his back, his arms, his stomach, below…

He regretted saying anything, because as he did, Eliott looked up and gently removed his hands from Lucas’ face and took a step back.

“Nope, she’s gone. The coast is all clear” his cheeky smile was back. “I gotta get to class, but I’m glad we talked, see you soon mon mec” he continued laughing at his own joke yet again while adjusting his backpack, and with a slight wave, he was gone, leaving Lucas alone at the library with the ghost of his lips still on him.

__

The rest of the day went by impossibly slow, for someone who was desperate to go home and replay the events of what happened at the library over and over until his brain cells gave up.

When he finally got home, he decided to do some of the neglected homework that was staring judgingly at him from his desk.

He’d contemplated texting Eliott, but every time he typed in a message he deleted it as fast as he could, before his traitorous hands hit send by mistake. He was desperate to talk to Eliott, he wanted to know how his day had been, if he’d been thinking about the kiss as much as Lucas had. He wanted to know what he ate for dinner and whether or not he got enough sleep. He had to snap himself out of it multiple times. “You’re not really dating, Lucas” he repeated over and over to himself almost like a mantra.

As if the universe heard his prayers, a message came from Eliott, and Lucas almost dropped his phone, desperate to see what it said.

 **Eliott:** So when are we hanging out?

His heart started racing at the prospect of seeing Eliott again, but then he remembered. There were no parties this weekend, and the guys hadn’t asked to meet Eliott again, so he typed in a reply.

 **Lucas:** I don’t think the guys have asked to meet you again any time soon, and there aren’t any parties this weekend, so I don’t know.

 **Eliott:** I didn’t mean with your friends. I meant just the two of us.

Holy fucking shit. Eliott wanted to hang out, just the two of them. If anyone had heard Lucas at that moment, they might have mistaken him for a thirteen-year old girl, by the sound he made.

He’d been so busy screeching, that he’d forgotten to reply to Eliott’s text, when his phone vibrated again.

 **Eliott:** You want to make the relationship believable right? 

 **Lucas:** I mean, yeah

His replies literally became dumber and dumber. Why was it so hard to formulate a proper response? Honestly he wouldn’t blame Eliott if he just blocked him and found a new pretend boyfriend, because this one apparently had peas for brain cells.

 **Eliott:** Honestly Lucas, have you never watched To all the boys I’ve loved, before? Hanging out is crucial if you want people to believe your lie

 **Lucas:** I have no idea what that even means

 **Eliott:** It’s a movie, Lucas

 **Eliott:** The ending is my personal favorite ;)

Lucas made a mental note to watch the movie at some point, but given that Eliott’s favorite was Titanic, he probably wouldn’t be all that into it.

 **Lucas:** Is it about rats turning into raccoons?

 **Eliott:** Ha ha ha, very funny. No, it’s about a hedgehog that gets its ass kicked by a badass raccoon

 **Lucas:** Sounds fake

 **Eliott:** It’s based off a true story you know

 **Lucas:** I’m making a mental note to watch it soon then, because it sounds CRAZY. But given your favorite movie is Titanic, I’m not getting my hopes up.

 **Eliott:** Damn Lucas, you keep breaking my heart, soon there won’t be anything left.

 **Lucas:** Sorry :(( How about we hang out Wednesday then?

 **Eliott:** It’s a date!

Lucas might or might not have had a minor heart attack reading the last message. Surely Eliott was just being his usual funny and teasing self, but that didn’t stop his heart from doing back flips whenever he read and reread the last message. It’s a date. 


	5. Not so brave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey mecs. I spent a lot of time writing this chapter, and it's a bit longer than the others. I'm actually really pleased with it (wow, didn't think it was possible), so please tell me what you think, feedback and comments is biggest motivation to keep going!
> 
> Also, I have the Peaky Blinders theme song as a ringtone and let me tell you, when the volume is up high, that shit gives you a heart attack!!

The next two days went by too slow. It was like time had decided to be a bitch and drag everything out as much as possible. Even the nights were slow. Sleeping was hard and all Lucas could do was stare at the ceiling or look through Instagram and Facebook for the hundredth time, going through the same boring posts from the same boring people.  
  
All he wanted to do was talk to Eliott. There was something about the boy, who sat alone at the library drawing raccoons like an actual dork, that made Lucas’ heart flutter. He wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met. He was sweet and beautiful but also the but also the cheekiest guy Lucas had ever met. Just thinking of their conversations and their bantering back and forth, made him blush and bury his face in the covers.  
Fuck, when did he get so whipped for a guy he barely knew, and definitely didn’t stand a chance with? 

It was just past 1am Tuesday night when he heard his phone buzz.

 **@curtisno1:** Hey, remember me?

To be honest, Lucas didn’t remember much from Friday, but he remembered the basics. He’d screwed up by getting drunk and accidentally telling some stranger, Curtis, that his relationship with Eliott was fake. Lucas sighed as he typed in a reply.

 **@lucallemant:** How could I forget, you almost poisoned me with all those shots!

If Lucas was being honest, he found it pretty weird that this guy was texting him in the middle of the night. But still, he was curious. As far as he remembered, the guy knew Idris and apparently Eliott as well. So what if Lucas wanted to get some intel on Eliott, after all, he was his pretend boyfriend, right?

 **@curtisno1:** Haha, sorry about that, how was I supposed to know you’re such a lightweight?

Damn this guy had no chill huh? Lucas puffed, offended. He definitely wasn’t a lightweight, but beer, weed and shots were bound to be a really shitty combination, right?

 **@lucallemant:** Rude..

 **@curtisno1:** Sorry haha. So you’re still up for that date you promised me?

Shit, it all came back now. He’d said yes to a date with this guy. But to be fair, Lucas had been pretty sure that the guy was just fucking around, he hadn’t actually thought that he would follow up. What was he supposed to say now? He couldn’t just go on a date with some random guy, when everyone thought he was dating Eliott. Curtis was cute and all but, Lucas had no real interest in going out with him. He was too busy dreaming about Eliott twenty-four-seven.  

 **@lucallemant:** Uhm, not sure, I mean everyone thinks I’m dating Eliott, so that would be pretty weird, you know?

Smooth Lucas, see? This way, he wasn’t flat out rejecting Curtis, and going back on their deal, but he was still finding a way to get out of it. He could be really smart when he wanted to. He almost patted himself on the shoulder, when his phone buzzed again.

 **@curtisno1:** That’s cool, I’ll just wait until your little show is over, I don’t mind! :)  Just let me know, yeah?

Fuck, okay so maybe he wasn’t as smooth as he’d thought he was. And what was he supposed to answer, other than.. 

 **@lucallemant:** Sure :)

__

“What are you guys doing later, wanna hang out and play some FIFA?” Yann asked, shoveling an obscure looking rice dish into his mouth.

It was finally Wednesday, and Lucas had been a shell of himself all day. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so excited, yet nervous, at the same time. He and Eliott had agreed to meet up at Eliott’s place around 4pm, giving Lucas time to go home and take a shower after school.

“I can’t today, I’m hanging out with Eliott” he said, poking his rice dish. The cafeteria food had always grossed him out. They always mixed the weirdest ingredients. Today’s dish was actually rice with pear, mint and cinnamon. Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to mix rice and cinnamon unless they were making rice pudding?

“Really?!” Arthur beamed, looking at Lucas like a proud mother hen. “You could invite him as well? It would give us a chance to get to know him better, we didn’t talk that much on Friday” he continued, looking expectantly at Lucas.

Lucas looked over at Yann and Basile, who were both nodding their heads like crazy. Even though Lucas had been looking forward to spending time alone with Eliott, he couldn’t get himself to say no to them, he already felt terrible for lying, so his conscience got the better of him.

“Yeah sure, I’ll ask him” he said, trying not to sound as disappointed as he felt, while pulling out his phone. 

 **Lucas:** Hey, is it cool if we hang out with the boys later instead of going to yours? They’re really keen on getting to know you some more.

 **Eliott:** Oh, yeah sure! Just text me the time and place.

Lucas sighed as he put his phone back in his pocket “he’s game. We’ll be there”.

“Cool” Yann exclaimed “meet up at my place at 4pm?”

“Sure” he answered, grabbing his tray, with his untouched lunch “see you then”.

__

“Hey Eliott, Lucas never told us when you guys met” Arthur said out of the blue, looking curiously at both of them.

They’d arrived at Yann’s half an hour ago, playing video games and chatting, Eliott immediately getting comfortable with the guys, joking and talking, while collectively kicking their asses in FIFA, which made Lucas crack a secret smile. Yann was probably the worst loser Lucas knew, but he didn’t seem to mind that much when he was losing to Eliott. The Eliott effect, Lucas thought for the second time this week.  
He’d retrieved himself to the corner, mainly observing the guys and Eliott interacting, not having exchanged more than a quick greeting with him, which the boys hadn’t seemed to notice.

Shit, Lucas hadn’t thought of this. What was their cover story? He couldn’t tell them that they’d met at the foyer meeting, because as far as he remembered, he’d told that guys that he’d seen him a few times before that Friday. But Lucas didn’t have time to start spiraling and panicking for long, because Eliott answered quickly, without hesitation. 

“I actually saw Lucas on the very first day of school” he said, locking eyes with a shook Lucas “I just didn’t have the guts to speak to him before a while ago”.

Okay so Lucas had already established that Eliott was a pretty good actor, but this? This was just too fast, too well-thought out, to be a lie right? Could it be true that Eliott had seen him on his first day? If so, that must mean that he’d noticed Lucas, _really_ noticed him. Just like Lucas had noticed Eliott at that foyer meeting.  
His heart was racing, and he was pretty sure he was blushing down to his toes. The thought of Eliott seeing him on his first day, made him shiver. The belief that maybe, just maybe, Eliott had also felt what Lucas had felt when he first saw him, that undeniable attraction, unable to look away, made his heart race as well as scaring the shit out of him. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t get himself to look at Eliott’s. He was a coward, so what of it?

“Holy shit, really?” Arthur said, putting down his controller and focusing completely on Eliott now, “that’s so fucking romantic dude”.

Eliott shrugged, giving Arthur a shy smile.

“It’s what our Lulu deserves” Yann chimed in, looking fondly at Eliott, then Lucas, who was still looking anywhere but at Eliott.

“But Lucas, you didn’t see Eliott back then did you? You never mentioned anything?” Basile asked, looking utterly confused.

“No, I didn’t” Lucas muttered, scared that if attempted to say more, butterflies would start swarming from his stomach and out of his mouth.

“But I saw him.. I only saw him actually” Eliott finished, still not taking his eyes off Lucas, whose continuous blush hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Putain, I hope I meet someone like you some day” Arthur said, looking absolutely in awe of Eliott.

 _Be brave_ , Lucas thought to himself as he forced his gaze to catch Eliott’s, and what he met almost gave him a heart attack. Eliott’s eyes had darkened, he was staring so intensely at Lucas, that he was scared he might disappear underneath his gaze. He wasn’t sure what his eyes were trying to convey; lust, admiration, _love?_...  
Okay he really needed to snap out of it, this wasn’t happening, Eliott was just making up some shit to help out Lucas, yet again, just like he had done at that bus stop. Eliott was quick on his feet, that’s all it was. 

“Anyways, are you ready for me to kick your ass Arthur” Lucas said reaching for the controller, desperate to get away from Eliott’s haunting gaze.  
____

“Okay Eliott, hear me out here” Basile said suddenly, forcing Eliott out of his staring competition with Lucas. It was like they had a silent agreement to stare at each other all night, without ever talking. Not that they got the chance, with the boys constantly asking him personal questions from what his favorite color was (which was blue, Lucas noted) to what kind of hair products he used.  
They’d been eating pizza and playing videogames for almost two hours now. Lucas didn’t understand how none of them seemed to get tired of playing the same game over and over again, they were all, Eliott included, like fucking machines, taking turns at playing, only stopping to take a bite of their slices.  
  
“Mhm” Eliott said absently, still locking eyes with Lucas.

“What if, I told people that you and I used to date? Like, that we got real freaky, you know? That would score me so many points with the ladies, I’m fucking sure of it” Basile continued, looking very pleased with his newly found idea.  
  
Lucas snapped his head up. That sounded dangerously close to what he was currently doing, lying about being with Eliott.  
  
“Don’t be a fucking dumbass Basile, just each your pizza and shut up” he said, trying to end this conversation before Basile began escalating, as he usually did when he had a dumb idea.

Eliott chuckled as he took another bite of his pizza, finally tearing his eyes away from Lucas, “you know I’d totally let you man, but then you’d have to explain how Lucas stole your ex-boyfriend, and I think it would get pretty messy, yeah?”

“Shit you’re right, I didn’t think of that. You’re so smart man” he replied, patting Eliott on the head as if he was a small child.

“Basile stop touching his fucking hair with your greasy fingers” Lucas all but yelled at Basile, getting riled up. This wasn’t how this night was supposed to go. He was supposed to be alone with Eliott, he was supposed to be the one asking him what his favorite colour was.  
  
Lucas couldn’t wait to leave. Being in Yann’s apartment with his best friends and his fake boyfriend was proving to be too much for him. One minute he wanted to come clean and tell the guys that it was all fake and how sorry he was, the next he wanted to kiss Eliott, you know, just to make it more believable, nothing else.  
Also he desperately needed to go home and process what Eliott had said earlier, his last two brain cells were really working on overdrive here.

“Geez, calm down pissy pants. I won’t steal your man, don’t worry” Basile cried out, pulling his hand away from Eliott, who didn’t seem to mind, but was now watching Lucas closely, having noticed the shift in Lucas’ mood. Eliott wasn’t the only one who’d noticed.

“As if that would ever happen Basile, keep dreaming” Yann said, trying to lighten the mood. “Hey Lucas, we’re out of beers, maybe you and Eliott could go down to the supermarket to buy some?” he said, trying, and succeeding in being a fucking amazing friend as usual. He must have thought that Lucas was on edge because he wanted to be alone with Eliott, which, yeah he did, but that wasn’t the only reason.

“Oh could you get me one of those dark root beers, please” Arthur looked at Lucas with his adorable puppy eyes, which he knew Lucas wouldn’t be able to resist.  
  
“They’re so fucking expensive, why have you got to be so extra” Lucas said, as he got up, and winked at Arthur whom returned the wink with his signature smile, which meant he knew he’d already persuaded him.

___ 

As Eliott and Lucas walked towards the supermarket, Lucas finally said “so the guys seem to like you.. a lot”, trying not to sound bitter.  
  
He was really happy that Eliott got along with the guys, they were practically like family to him. But he didn’t quite know how to deal with it when they inevitably found out the truth, that not only Lucas, but Eliott as well, had been lying to them. It would break their hearts; they had really taken a liking to Eliott.

“Yeah they’re really great” Eliott said, not sounding all that excited as he pulled a leaf from a near-by bush and began to tear it apart, scattering the pieces on the ground.

“I think they’re having fun, how about you?” Lucas continued, not sure of what to say.

“Yeah it’s fine” Eliott answered, focusing very hard on the leaf in his hand.

“You don’t like the boys?” Lucas asked nervously. Was he starting to have second thoughts about their arrangement? Was the lying getting to him as well? Lucas was spiraling again, but not for long, as Eliott reigned him back in.

“No no! It’s not that! They’re great” he answered frantically.

“Then what?”

“Honestly?” he asked, looking at Lucas for the first time since they’d left the apartment.

“Yeah, honestly”

“I was uh- I was just.. you know-  looking forward to spending time with you… alone” he trailed off, not leaving Lucas’ gaze.

Lucas was pretty sure his heart had stopped beating a while ago, and he had died and gone to heaven. Eliott wanting to spend time with him alone? Sounded fake, but okay.  
Was that really why he’d been so weird with Lucas all day? Because he was disappointed that they weren’t spending time alone? Lucas felt like tap dancing, singing and burying himself underground at the same time, all of his emotions rushing to the surface, threatening to overflow. Not knowing what to say, scared that he might say or do something he’d regret if he kept looking at Eliott, he turned around on his heels and started walking in the other direction.

“Where are you going?” Eliott asked confused “the supermarket is that way” he said pointing at the opposite direction of where Lucas was heading.  

“I know where the supermarket is” he said rolling his eyes “but we’re not going there” a smile forming on his lips.  
  
Eliott’s lips curled into a smile as he started following Lucas.

After walking for fifteen minutes they arrived at a park. Lucas sat down on one of the swings, gesturing Eliott to sit down on the other one. He knew this park like the back of his hand. How many times had he sat on this exact swing? There was no use in trying to count it, it had been his refugee for years, as long as he could remember.

“This is my favorite place in the city you know?” Lucas said, a smile forming on his lips.

“Yeah?” the taller one answered, willing Lucas to continue.

“Yeah.. I used to come here when I was younger. Whenever my parents were arguing, which was a lot towards the end, I’d come here, sit on this swing and imagine what the Lucas’ in parallel universes were doing in that exact moment. I’d make up so many stories in my head”. He started blushing. He’d never told anyone that before, he’d never brought anyone to this place, his safe place, before. But something about Eliott, his honesty and genuineness made Lucas want to share this place, share a piece of himself with him.

“Parallel universes?” Eliott asked, lifting his eyebrow with a coy smile.

“Yeah” Lucas said, a blush beginning to spread “whenever I have a choice to make, I always imagine that the other Lucas’ in parallel universes made other choices” he continues, looking at Eliott, who nods as an encouragement for Lucas to proceed.  
“That way, I get less anxious of whether or not I’ve made the right choice, because even if I didn’t make the right choice, there are other Lucas’ that did.”

They sat in silence for what might have been seconds, minutes or hours, Lucas wasn’t quite sure. Eliott looked lost deep in thought, and it felt like Lucas was intruding on a very private moment, when he finally said “what do you think?” desperate to know what Eliott thought of his theory.  
  
The parallel universes had been a part of Lucas’ life ever since he could remember, he never shared it with anyone, afraid they might laugh or brush it off, but something about the earnesty of Eliott made him say things he’d never thought he’d share with anyone.

“So, do you think that there are any of the Lucas’ and Eliotts in the parallel universe, that are in a real relationship right now?” Eliott asked with a curious look, as if he hadn’t just stopped Lucas’ heart mid-sentence.

“I-uhm.. uh- maybe” Lucas stammered, shook by Eliott’s blunt question. Eliott chuckled at Lucas obvious discomfort, as he got up and positioned behind him, gently nudging the swing Lucas was sat on.

Lucas had probably sat in this exact spot a hundred times. Sometimes he would just sit there for hours, not moving, other times he’d swing a little bit and try to enjoy it. But in all honestly he felt more alone when he was actually swinging, than when he just sat there, not moving. There was something too miserable about swinging on your own in an empty park.

Eliott started to pick up the pace and was now full on pushing Lucas’ swing, making him go higher and higher, the wind catching his hair, and a giant smile forming on his lips. It felt so intimate.. So natural. Lucas started laughing for real now, as Eliott was pushing him, making the swing go really high “I hope you’re not afraid of heights” the taller one almost yelled, the laugh evident in his voice.

Lucas turned his head and yelled back, mid-air, “Me afraid? Pas peur”.  He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so alive, so _free._ No worries, no nothing, just the wind in his hair and Eliott, it was absolute bliss.

Finally, Eliott grabbed the handles of the swing and brought it to a halt, still hovering over Lucas, pressing his chest to the shorter boy’s back.  
 “Pas peur?” Eliott whispered, he was so close to Lucas right now. He was painfully aware of Eliott’s heartbeat, thudding on his back, and it felt like his entire body was about to catch fire.  
  
“Pas peur” Lucas whispered, closing his eyes, glad that Eliott couldn’t see his face.  
  
Eliott chuckled, still holding the handles, still standing behind Lucas. Even though Lucas couldn’t actually see Eliott’s face, his smile had burned itself into his memory, he imagined what Eliott looked like right now, beautiful as always, he thought to himself. 

 _Pas peur_ , Lucas thought to himself as he mustered up the courage to ask the question he’d been dying to ask all night.  
  
“Did you mean what you said earlier” he finally asked nervously, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket, thanking the Gods that he had his back to Eliott.

“What did I say?” Eliott answered, well-aware of what Lucas was talking about, but unable to stop himself from torturing Lucas a little bit.

“About uhm- seeing me.. on the first day?” he could still feel Eliott’s presence behind him and instead of making his head spin as it had been doing up until now, it made him feel weirdly grounded, like his simple presence and touch was all it took for Lucas to be brave.  
  
“You don’t get it, do you Lucas?” Eliott sighed, the frustration in his voice painfully evident.

“Get what?” he asked genuinely puzzled.

Eliott didn’t answer him right away. He slowly started pulling Lucas closer by the handles of the swing, Lucas hadn’t thought it was possible to get closer than they already were. Suddenly he felt the taller boy’s chin resting on top of his head. Lucas was pretty sure that if Eliott hadn’t been standing behind him, he’d have fallen off the swing, given that his entire body felt like jell-o at the moment. He could feel the boy’s breath on his head, causing his hair to move slightly every time Eliott exhaled.

But he was brave, Eliott made him brave. So he slowly, but surely tipped his head backwards until it was resting on Eliott’s chest. To any outsider they must have looked like two people madly in love. He felt Eliott’s body starting to relax, digging his chin deeper into Lucas’ scalp. Their bodies were melting together, they weren’t Eliott and Lucas anymore, they were one.

Lucas could feel Eliott’s heartbeat racing. He was glad that he wasn’t the only one whose heart had decided to say fuck it at just go rouge. The moment was so tender, like nothing Lucas had ever experienced before. For a moment, he let himself believe that his feelings, which he couldn’t deny anymore, were reciprocated. This _thing_ with Eliott didn’t feel platonic anymore. This position they were in right now, wasn’t just two boys helping each other out, right? He couldn’t be imagining all of this could he? Gosh, his brain was going a hundred miles per hour, one thought replaced by a new one, every second, waiting for Eliott to say something.

“I don’t want-“ Eliott finally began, as he was interrupted by Lucas phone ringing. The volume was turned up so high that it startled both of them, making Lucas jump and crash his head up, smashing Eliott’s jaw shut. The sound was inhuman, and Lucas momentarily thought he’d actually fucking broken the boy’s jaw. He got up quickly and turned around, facing him.

“Shit, are you okay? Fuck I didn’t mean to do that” he said frantically, searching Eliott’s eyes for any indication of how badly he was injured. His head hurt a bit from the collision with Eliott’s chin, but he didn’t care.

Eliott simply stroked his chin a bit and grinned “it’s fine Lucas, I’m fine”, but by the looks of his face he wasn’t completely fine, Lucas thought.  
  
“You should probably get that” he gestured towards the phone in Lucas’ pocket where the Peaky Blinders theme song, which he’d thought was a great idea to have as a ringtone at the time, was still playing. Now that song would forever be ruined for him, damn, thanks universe.  

“Right” he muttered as he dug out his phone from his pocket.

“Dude where the fuck are you? It’s like Sahara here, we need fluids, and by fluids I mean beer” Basile was crying into the phone.

Putain, Lucas had completely forgotten that they were supposed to go to the supermarket. He noticed that the sun was beginning to set. How long had they been at the park? It had only felt like minutes, but he was pretty sure it had been a lot longer than that, judging from Basile’s tone 

“Yeah uhm, the supermarket next to Yann was closed so we had to go to the next one” he said, surprised by his ability to make that up on the spot, “we’ll be back in twenty minutes” he finished as he hung up and looked up at Eliott, who was still standing in the same spot as before.

“So.. uh- we should- uhm, we should probably go” Lucas said unwillingly, hoping that his disappointment wasn’t too evident.

“Right” Eliott said, a tiny smile playing on his lips, as he started walking, motioning for Lucas to join him.

Lucas was itching to hear what Eliott had been about to say before they were interrupted by Basile, but the moment had passed, and he wasn’t _that_ brave, that he was going to ask again. Pas peur my ass, he thought as he followed Eliott out of the park.


	6. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title pretty much sums up the entire chapter, lmao.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Halla, I know it's been ages, and I'm sorry it took me so long to write this! But it's almost 6k long so I hope that makes a little bit up for the wait. (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞  
> Also I just want to say that your messages and comments make me so happy and gives me motivation, so thank you mecs, I appreciate every single one of you!

Surprisingly, Lucas had slept through the entire night like a baby. He’d been convinced that he wouldn’t get a single minute of sleep, seeing as he kept replaying that night, at the park with Eliott, over and over in his head. But apparently you _can_ replay something in your head so much that your brain literally says fuck you and shuts off, good to know. 

“Juu-hu is anyone home?” Mika was waving his hand in front of Lucas.  
“I’m telling you Manon, ever since he got a boyfriend, he’s like this _all_ the time” he continued, giving up on trying to get Lucas’ attention, shifting his attention back to his dinner, which Manon, bless her, had cooked for them.  
  
Although she’d moved next door almost two months ago, finally giving Lucas his room back, she was a frequent visitor, and they ate dinner together almost five nights a week. It was almost like a family tradition by now. Lisa wasn’t home, which was odd, but Mika only rolled his eyes and said something about her going to yoga class because she saw some TV-show about how it changes your life.

“I think it’s endearing” Manon said beaming, looking at Lucas with a genuine smile, as she grabbed the last piece of bread from the basket.

“Huh?” Lucas said, as if finally coming out of his trance. Okay so he might have been thinking about last night _again_ , so what of it?

“Huh?” Mika mocked him “Manon only just told us she’s pregnant you imbecile”.

“What?!” he exclaimed, finally focusing his attention on Manon, eyeing her stomach. 

“Mika shut up” she said throwing her piece of bread at him,

“No I’m not Lucas, we’re just talking about how happy we are for you and Eliott. I’ve never seen you like this before” she continued, claiming her bread back from Mika, who’d already started nibbling at it like a baby bird.

“Oh, yeah thanks, it’s no big deal really” he said, hoping they’d leave it at that. He hadn’t talked to Mika and Manon about Eliott as much as he had with the boys.  
Although he hated lying to the boys, it was different with Mika and Manon, it was almost physically impossible for him to lie to them, they always figured him out, which was a pain in the ass, to be honest. 

“I think it is a big deal” Manon said, still smiling from ear to ear “but it’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it” she finished.  
_Fuck_ he hates lying to them so damn much.

“Just remember to use a condom and I have a butt plug, which I haven’t used, that you can have if you want to get freaky” Mika winked, earning him a slap on the arm from Manon.  
  
“Ow that hurt! I’m just trying to help our baby” he exclaimed, a laugh escaping him.

Lucas took that as his que to get up and go to his room. He was definitely _not_ going to have this conversation with Mika, or anyone for that matter. Nope, no thank you.  __

The rest of the week had gone by uneventfully. It had basically just been school, homework, sleep and repeat for almost a week now. He barely saw the guys and he only saw Eliott at school.

Sometimes they’d sneak out and have lunch alone, other times they’d eat with the guys.  
Eliott had asked him if he wanted to hang out on the weekend, but being so behind on all his homework he’d had to decline. Looking back, he should have just accepted the offer, seeing as he didn’t get any homework done during the weekend, too busy kicking himself for saying no to Eliott, and imagining what he was up to at any given moment.  
  
“Lucas!” Daphne was running up to him in the hallway. He hadn’t actually spoken to her since the foyer meeting. He’d neglected the girls for a while, because of the whole thing with Eliott, and he felt pretty bad about it. But Daphné was the nosiest person he knew, and dealing with daily interrogations by the gang was tiring enough.

“Hi Daphy” he greeted her with a kiss on each cheek. He’d missed her, more than he cared to admit.

“Are you guys coming to Emma’s party on Friday?”  she asked, not even bothering to ask him how he’d been. Straight to the point, that was Daphné alright.

“Uhm, Basile and Arthur mentioned something, so I think the guys are coming, yeah” he said, losing interest in the conversation quickly, as he saw Eliott walk out of a classroom. Gosh, he really was the single most beautiful thing Lucas had ever laid his eyes on. He’d started noticing small details about him that he hadn’t noticed before. Like how his nose scrunched whenever he laughed. The real hearty laughs, which made Lucas’ heart melt. And how he sort of bounced when walked, especially when he was excited, which seemed to be most of the time.  
  
He’d actually mentioned it to Eliott at some point, telling him that his spirit animal should have been a bunny instead of a raccoon, because of the way he always jumped around when he was excited. It had made Eliott laugh, and he’d said “maybe I’m a bunny in a parallel universe?”,  
which made Lucas blush like crazy, because Eliott’s casual reference to the parallel universes made Lucas feel like they shared something special, something personal just between the two of them. 

“I meant you and Eliott, silly!” Daphné laughed, nudging his shoulder “we’re all dying to meet him, and what better way than at a party?”

“Oh, uhm- I’m not sure, I mean I can ask him, but I can’t make any promises”

“Oh Lucas, if you’re coming then he’s _definitely_ coming, it’s not like he’s going to leave his boyfriend alone at a party with drunk attractive people right? Not that anyone is as attractive as he is, I mean wow Lucas, you really hit jackpot there, he looks like a Greek God” she added as an afterthought, blushing when she saw Lucas’ frown.

“I’ll ask Daphy, okay?” he said, suddenly itching to get away from her, “later” he added as he rushed past her, and after Eliott out to the courtyard, where he was sitting, smoking a cigarette by himself.

Lucas had never been a smoker. Sure he smoked weed, but not real cigarettes. The taste and smell always made him nauseous, but holy shit, it was a completely different story when Eliott did it. The way Eliott held the cigarette between his elegant index- and middle finger, made Lucas wish he was the damn cigarette. And don’t even get him started on how mind-blowingly hot he looked whenever he let out a drag. The way he slightly parted his lips as he let the smoke escape them, before he started blowing it out, always left Lucas’ mouth dry. He’d made a habit of not looking at Eliott whenever he smoked, afraid he might get a hard-on right then and there.

“Hey you” he said softly, taking a seat next to Eliott.

“Hey -- babe” Eliott answered, clearly happy to see Lucas “should I start giving you a kiss when I see you at school.. you know to make it more believable?” he added, knowing full well, how to make Lucas blush. Putain, he’d been here for about 10 seconds and Eliott was already going in for the kill, this boy was definitely going to be the death of him.  
  
“Uhm..” Lucas answered looking around the nearly empty courtyard “I think we’re good for now”.

“Suit yourself” he said, taking another drag of his cigarette. Lucas was trying really hard not to look at Eliott, knowing full well that he wasn’t the best at masking his emotions, and Eliott was scarily perceptive, no need to let him know how much his smoking affected Lucas.

“So I actually wanted to ask you something” he said, still not looking at the taller boy.

“Sure, shoot”

“I’m doing an essay in my literature class, and I don’t understand shit. You’re a literature student, so I thought maybe you could help me out?” he said finally looking at Eliott. Honestly, he really needed Eliott to say yes. He was the only person he knew who was actually good at literature, plus he wouldn’t mind spending some time alone with him.

“Well if I can’t help my boyfriend with his homework, then who can I help?” he joked, nudging Lucas’ shoulder. “After school, your place?”

“Yeah sure, thanks a lot Eliott, you’re a lifesaver.”

“No worries” he beamed, putting out his cigarette and getting up “I’m late for class, but I’ll see you later!”

“See you!” Lucas said a little too enthusiastically, immediately blushing, which he was pretty sure hadn’t gone unnoticed, judging by the shit eating grin on Eliott’s face as he was walking away.  
__

“I don’t understand shit” Lucas sighed throwing his book on the table “what are the cigarettes supposed to be a symbol of? I mean they’re just fucking cigarettes” he continued, trying not to dwell too much on how cigarettes weren’t in fact just cigarettes anymore. At least not for him, not after Eliott had made it his personal mission to look so damn hot every time he smoked one.

They were sitting in the living room, books sprawled all over the place and empty soda cans on the table. Lucas wasn’t sure how long they’d spent trying to analyze this damn novel, but he didn’t quite mind it that much, not when Eliott was there to help him.

“It’s a phallic symbol” Eliott laughed, clearly amused by Lucas’ inability to interpret literature.

“A what?” he asked, looking up.

“A phallic symbol” he repeated, as if repeating the words would somehow make Lucas understand what he was talking about.

“A phallic symbol is an object, cigarettes in this case, that represents a penis” he said nonchalant, while scribbling something down in his notebook.

And holy shit, Lucas was not prepared for that. Not only had he been thinking about how fucking hot Eliott looked every time he smoked a cigarette and now he wouldn’t be able to get the whole dick image out of his head whenever he thought about it. He made a mental note, and swore that he would never ever look him in the eye, when he was smoking, ever again.

“Uhm--- I can’t quite figure out if you’re fucking with me right now or” Lucas said, not sure if this was another one of Eliott’s dumbass jokes or if he was being sincere, because if he was then.. holy shit.

Eliott looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow, not answering his question but continued explaining; “You know, some people even go as far as to say that Cinderella putting her foot into the glass slipper is also a phallic symbol”.

“Who said romance was dead” Lucas mumbled, to himself, not quite ready to look at Eliott, knowing full well that his facial expression would give him away.

Eliott chuckled and nudged Lucas, making him look up and catch his gaze “I happen to find dicks very romantic” he said obviously trying to make Lucas squirm in his seat, even more than he already was.

Okay Lucas wasn’t going to have this conversation with Eliott. Enough dick-talk for one day.

“Funny” he said as he got up, desperate to get some space between Eliott and himself and definitely desperate to end the conversation.

“Anyway” he began, busying himself with gathering the empty soda cans “Emma’s throwing a party Friday, and the girls asked me to invite you”.

“Well that depends” Eliott said, desperately trying to get Lucas to stand still so they could have a proper conversation. 

Lucas put the empty cans in a plastic bag in the kitchen and returned to his spot next to Eliott “on what?” he asked, eyeing him suspiciously. He’d gotten used to Eliott’s cryptic answers, but that didn’t mean that they had gotten less annoying. Sure, Lucas wasn’t the best at being straightforward all the time, but with Eliott it was like it was an actual personality trait to drag everything out and make Lucas squirm in the process. Lucas was starting to believe that Eliott actually enjoyed torturing him, he wouldn’t put it past him. It’s always the pretty ones that are the craziest he thought.

“Will you be there?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I uh- yeah I meant like, we could go together” Lucas answered, honestly puzzled that Eliott hadn’t gotten that part “unless you don’t want me to come?” he added hastily. Maybe Eliott had gotten tired of hanging out with him all the time? He wouldn’t blame him, Lucas got tired of his own company way too often as well.

The taller boy’s face scrunched up in the cutest laughter and Lucas contemplated taking a quick photo of him in secret, just to keep him company when this thing with Eliott was over.  
  
His laughter was one of Lucas’ favorite things about the boy. Whenever Lucas looked at him, he felt like he was looking at some unhuman God-like creature. But when Eliott laughed, he looked so human, so sweet and honest and it always brought Lucas down to Earth. It reminded him that he was human just like Lucas, and Yann and Arthur and, well maybe not Basile, seeing as he lacked one too many brain cells to be considered human.  
But no one had a laughter quite like Eliott. It was like his laughter and mere presence could light up and entire room, an entire house even. Lucas would have given up any other sources of light forever, if only he could continue watching Eliott smile like _that_.

“Why would I want to go if you aren’t there?” Eliott laughed, looking at Lucas as if it was the silliest thing he’d ever heard, and Lucas was pretty sure his heart swelled up three sizes. Eliott wouldn’t want to go without him. Ditto, Lucas thought to himself, but decided to play it cool.

“Then it’s settled, were going” he said, flashing Eliott a bright smile “but first, I need to finish this essay”.

“You know, you say ‘I need to finish’, but I feel like I’m doing all the work” Eliott joked, gently shoving Lucas’ shoulder.

“You are not! You’re too busy talking about dicks” Lucas exclaimed, honestly feeling like he’d participated in writing the essay, although if he was being honest, it was mainly him complaining, while Eliott wrote the actual thing.

“What can I say” Eliott chuckled, clearly amused by the expression on Lucas’ face “I like literature.. and I like dicks” – he was full on staring at Lucas, not flinching for a second as he finished the sentence, as if they were merely talking about the weather. 

“Oooookay playboy” Lucas managed to croak out, feeling a blush rising “let’s just get this over with yeah?”

Eliott chuckled, clearly getting the hint that Lucas wasn’t comfortable with their conversation, as he grabbed the laptop and started typing away.  
__  
  
“So , you’re dating Eliott, huh?” Imane asked, casually, while grabbing her books from her backpack. It was Friday and Biology was their last class before the weekend. It had been a long week with multiple essays to write and shitloads of homework, and Lucas really looked forward to letting out some steam at the party tonight. Moreover, he was excited to see Eliott, he hadn’t seen him since Tuesday when he’d helped him out with his essay.

“Yeah, why? Do you know him?” Lucas asked, eyeing her. Imane wasn’t usually the gossiping type, so for her to bring up Eliott seemed suspicious.

“Mhm” she said, scribbling something in her notebook “he was friends with my brother, Idriss” she continued nonchalantly.

“Oh yeah?" 

Lucas knew that Eliott knew Idriss. That guy, Curtis, had told him so, but he didn’t know that they’d been so close, that Eliott knew Imane as well.

“How is he?” she asked, a smile appearing on her lips. She sounded almost as if she missed him.

“He’s good I guess?” Lucas answered quizzically.  
  
Why didn’t Imane just talk to him herself, he thought, as he continued; “When you say ‘were’ friends, what does that mean exactly?” he asked, hoping to get some more information out of her. After all, she’d been the one to bring it up.

“It means that they’re not anymore” she deadpanned, looking at him as if he’d fallen off the moon.

Lucas rolled his eyes, why did she always have to be so damn difficult?  
  
“But why aren’t they talking anymore?” he asked, desperate for some more intel on the mystery that was Eliott Demaury.

“Shit I don’t know Lucas ask him yourself” she snapped “I was just wondering how he was doing, I haven’t seen him in ages” she continued, clearly regretting bringing him up in the first place.  
  
Before Lucas could pry further, their teacher walked in, and Imane busied herself with getting all her notes ready, and Lucas knew better than to push her when she wasn’t feeling like talking, so he let it go.. for now. 

30 minutes later he felt his phone buzz in his pocket and he took it out, hiding it under the table so his teacher didn’t notice.

 **Eliott:** Do you think in a parallel universe, school isn’t a hell hole?

Lucas let out a snort, which he quickly tried to mask as a cough, clearly failing judging by the look Imane shot him.

 **Lucas:** Maybe.. You might even be a professor in a parallel universe

 **Eliott:** Ooh, that would be cool. I think you’d be my favorite student ;)

Lucas couldn’t contain the smile that was forming on his lips.

 **Lucas:**  I doubt I’ll ever be anyone’s favorite student, in any universe.. ever

 **Eliott:** I wouldn’t be so sure 

 **Lucas:** Professor Demaury.. Doesn’t sound so bad

 **Eliott:** Sounds pretty hot, if you ask me

Lucas was pretty sure that if anyone looked at him right now, they’d think he’d won the lottery or something.

 **Eliott:** So what time will my favorite student be at the party tonight? Maybe we can meet up a few blocks away, like last time?

 **Lucas:** You’re a dork 

 **Lucas:** But I’d like that.. say 8 o’clock?

 **Eliott:** It’s a date

 **Eliott:** Woah I just got a major deja-vu

No shit, Lucas thought to himself as the bell rang and he began collecting his books. Hopefully tonight’s party would be different than the last one though.  
___

“So, have you heard from Chloe since the bus stop incident?” Eliott asked. They’d been walking for about 10 minutes, neither one of them in a particular hurry to reach Emma’s house. Both enjoying each other’s company.

“No, I think she’s really pissed at me” Lucas shrugged. If he was being honest, he really didn’t care whether or not Chloe was upset with him.

“Can I ask you a question?” Eliot asked, fiddling with the sleeve of his jacket. If Lucas didn’t know any better, he’d almost say that he looked nervous.

“Sure”

“Why did you kiss her, if you don’t like her?” he finally asked, eyeing Lucas.

“How do you know I kissed her? I never said that” he was genuinely puzzled by Eliott’s sudden question.

“I just assumed.. you know, because she seemed so into you and wanted to go out on a date. I just figured you’d hooked up a few times” he continued.

“Right” Lucas sighed “I don’t know actually… boredom maybe?” he flinched at his own response. He sounded like a real asshole right now and he knew it, but it was better than telling Eliott the truth. That he was a coward.

“Did you have sex with her?” the taller boy asked, taking Lucas by surprise once again.

“No I never had sex with her, I wouldn’t do that” he answered honestly, desperate for Eliott to know that he’d never use anyone like that.

“Good” Eliott sighed, and when Lucas caught his eye he saw something resembling relief washing over Eliott’s face.

“So, uhm- have you talked to you ex- uh, Lucille, since the last party?”  
  
He’d been dying to know ever since he’d found out about her, but had been too afraid to ask and invade Eliott’s personal space. But seeing as they were doing this, he might as well ask, no better time than now. 

Eliott looked down at Lucas, a sad smile forming on his lips, “A few times yeah “she has a hard time letting go, and I don’t want to hurt her feelings more than I already have” he said, his face falling.

“Oh..” Lucas answered, not sure what he was supposed to say. He was dying to know more. How often had he spoken to her? Had he met up with her or had they talked over the phone? And more importantly, did he still have feelings for her?  
But he settled with an easier question; “Why did you break up?”

“Honestly, it had been a long time coming, we’d been together for four years, but I think we fell out of love, long before we actually broke up”. His voice was so raw and honest, and Lucas felt honored that Eliott trusted him enough to be so open with him.

“So uh- do you see yourself in a relationship, with a new girl, soon then?” he asked, trying not to sound too obvious “I mean, when we end.. _this_ ” he trailed off, not sure whether he really wanted to know the answer to his question.

“Sure, I like being in a relationship” Eliott said a smile playing on his lips “not necessarily a girl though” he added, and Lucas felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere. The usual easy air around them had been replaced with something thick, something Lucas couldn’t quite put his finger on. Was Eliott saying, what he Lucas thought he was saying? Before he could formulate a response he looked up and realized that they’d reached Emma’s place.

“We’re here” he said, and Eliott looked almost disappointed in Lucas’ lack of response to his earlier comment.

“Let’s go then” he said, letting Lucas off the hook, as he rang the doorbell.  
__ 

It didn’t take long for Daphné to find the boys at the party. They’d only just opened their first beer, catching up with the Yann, Arthur and Basile, when she came up and almost pushed Lucas into the kitchen counter.  
  
“Hi, I’m Daphné, so nice to finally meet you” she said, offering her hand to Eliott, who shook it with a crooked smile.  
  
“I’m Eliott, I’ve heard a lot about you” he said.  
  
Lucas was pretty sure he’d mentioned Daphné maybe once, but still he appreciated Eliott’s effort to make her feel good about herself.

“I can’t believe you guys are actually boyfriends” she beamed “an absolute power couple” she said, eyeing both of them.  
Lucas was pretty sure she was checking Eliott out, but he couldn’t even be bothered to call her out. He couldn’t really blame her, Eliott was very check-out-able and Lucas also found himself checking him out more often than not.

“Oh yeah?” Eliott said raising an eyebrow, not looking very convinced by her statement.

“You know who else could be a power couple?” Basile said, stepping in front of Eliott in order to get Daphné’s attention.

She rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed that he was interrupting her conversation with Eliott, but Lucas was pretty sure he saw something resembling relief washing over Eliott’s face. Guess he didn’t buy the whole power couple thing, huh.

She didn’t even give him an answer, she simply smiled at Eliott and Lucas and left, leaving a trail of her cherry perfume lingering in the air.  

“Shit.. Was that too desperate?” Basile asked, turning around and addressing Eliott, who put a reassuring arm around the curly haired boy.

“You know what I think?” he asked, looking down at Basile, who nodded fiercely.  
  
Eliott had become some kind of weird role model/guru for Basile. He was always talking about Eliott when he wasn’t there, and in the beginning Lucas had been worried that Basile was annoying Eliott, who was just too nice to tell him so. But lately he was beginning to think that he really cared for Basile. He was always reassuring the boy, giving him pep-talks and putting a protective arm around him whenever the gang was roasting him (which was pretty much all the time). It warmed Lucas’ heart that Eliott had grown so fond of his friends, although the nagging feeling in the back of his mind, never really left him. It would break everyone’s heart when they found out the truth.. Including Lucas’. He’d grown way too used to having Eliott around, a constant reassuring and warm presence, that he didn’t know how he was going to live without.

“I think you need to take desperate to a whole new level. Show her just how desperate you can be” Eliott continued.

“What the fuck kind of advice is that?” Lucas laughed, not being able to stay out of the conversation. 

“It worked with you, didn’t it?” Eliott answered, giving Lucas a coy smile, that had him blushing instantly.

“Is that what you did with Lucas?” Basile asked, still looking at Eliott like a lost puppy.

“Let’s just say I didn’t give him much of a choice in the matter” Eliott winked, still not taking his eyes off Lucas, who was pretty sure that if the brunette didn’t stop looking at him like _that,_ he would pass out right then and there.

“Fuck it, I’m gonna try again” Basile exclaimed, giving Eliott a fist bump and walking out of the kitchen.

“Oh my God, I have to see this” Arthur giggled, running after him, and Yann just shrugged with an amused expression and followed them.

“Taking desperate to a whole new level, huh?” Lucas teased, inching closer to Eliott, but still leaving an appropriate amount of space between them.

“Desperate times calls for desperate measures, I would know” Eliott laughed, and Lucas wasn’t sure if Eliott was saying what he thought he was saying, but couldn’t get himself to ask. 

“You know, Imane asked about you today”. The whole thing had been nagging him all day, and he really hoped that he would get _something_ out of Eliott. He didn’t want to pry or nag him, but he was just so damn _curious_.  
So he tried to act nonchalant, as if he was simply making conversation “I think she might miss you” he added truthfully.

“Oh yeah?” Eliott said, a small smile playing on his lips “I miss her too, she’s a great girl”.

“How do you guys know each other?” he asked, trying really hard to sound casual.

He regretted his question instantly, when he saw how Eliott’s face dropped. He looked uncomfortable and slightly sad, which made Lucas want to inch even closer and comfort him in some way.

“Uh- I was eh..” he mumbled, suddenly very interested in the label on his beer bottle “I used to be friends with her brother Idriss, but we don’t really talk anymore” he finished, taking a big swig of his beer.

Lucas didn’t get the chance to respond before Eliott excused himself, saying that he needed to use the restroom, leaving Lucas alone in the kitchen and feeling like an asshole.  
Okay so he obviously shouldn’t have asked, seeing as it was a very touchy subject for Eliott, but still, he couldn’t help it when he felt his curiosity grow. What the hell was the deal between Idriss and Eliott?

“Fancy seeing you here” a voice interrupted Lucas’ inner struggle on how to solve the mystery. He looked up and was faced with a handsome blonde guy. Curtis.

“Oh, hi” he said, smiling at him. Gosh, he was really tall, had he grown since the last time they talked, or had Lucas really just been so wasted that he hadn’t noticed? He silently patted himself on the shoulder for not getting too drunk tonight. 

“How are you?” the blonde asked, inching closer to Lucas, closer than what Lucas had deemed appropriate earlier when he had been with Eliott.

“I’m good, just hanging out you know. How about you?” he asked. He’d never been a fan of small talk and honestly this guy was standing a bit too close, and was a bit too desperate for Lucas’ liking. Plus, he was too busy thinking of how he was going to find out what happened between Idriss and Eliott, to fully pay attention to Curtis, when something clicked. Curtis was friends with Idriss. Maybe he could help him out, he thought as he decided that he’d try to be polite towards Cutis and see if he could get some intel out of him.

“Right, I’m good as well” he answered, and Lucas wasn’t sure if he was imagining things or if the guy actually looked nervous.  
“I was uh- I was hoping to see you tonight” he continued, blushing a bit, and Lucas suddenly felt even more tense than before.  

“Yeah uh- you too” Lucas answered, hoping that if he just pretended to be oblivious, he would somehow be able to get out of the situation. 

“Are you and Eliott still ‘dating’?” he asked, inching even closer to Lucas, who was really starting to get uncomfortable.

“Yeah, we are” he said, trying to create some space between himself and Curtis, but realizing that he was pushed into a corner and couldn’t really move further away.

“I can’t wait until you guys are finished with your act” he said, grabbing Lucas’ hand, taking him by surprise “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, and I was so happy when you agreed to go out with me” he continued.

Before Lucas could react and pull his hand away, he looked up and saw Eliott standing at the kitchen entrance. Lucas had never seen that expression on Eliott’s face before. A mix of betrayal, hurt and anger was playing on his face. Lucas practically felt his own heart break just by looking at the other boy. He’d never wanted to invoke those feelings in anyone, especially not Eliott.

“I-“ Lucas began, as he pulled his hand away, desperate to make Eliott understand that he’d misunderstood the situation. But he didn’t get a chance to say anything as Eliott quickly turned around and stormed out.

“Putain” Lucas hissed, looking up at a confused Curtis “I think you misunderstood the situation” he told the blonde “I was drunk and I’m- I’m not really interested in going out with you, I’m sorry” he said as he put his beer on the kitchen counter and practically ran out of the kitchen, trying to catch up with Eliott, who had already grabbed his coat and was on his way out of the apartment.

“Eliott!” he yelled, running after him, struggling with keeping up with the taller boy, who didn’t turn around and stormed out of the apartment.

Lucas grabbed his coat and ran after him. When he got outside he saw Eliott stomping away, and he started running, trying to catch up with him, cursing his short legs.  
  
“Eliott! Please just fucking stop so I can explain” he yelled. He was full on running now, as he finally caught up with him, grabbing his arm, making the taller boy turn around.

“What?!” Eliott spat, not looking Lucas in the eyes.

“That- it..” he began, not sure what exactly he was trying to say. The look on Eliott’s face threw him completely off guard. He’d never thought that he would react that way, and he silently cursed himself for having hurt Eliott like that, for being so fucking oblivious.

“That wasn’t what it looked like” he cried out. 

“So you didn’t agree to go out with Curtis?” he asked with a painful expression. 

“I- yes I did” he began, grabbing Eliott’s arm a bit harder, making sure he wouldn’t run away again.  
  
“But I was drunk and it was at that party where I thought you bailed on me with Lucille” he explained, hoping whatever he was saying was making sense.  
  
“It was before…” he cut himself off. _Before I fell in love with you._ If he was as brave as he wished he was, he would have said those words out loud, but he wasn’t.

“You know what Lucas? It’s fine. Let’s just drop this- this _act_. You can go on with your life and date whoever you want, without me inconveniencing you” he said, tears welling up and threatening to spill.

“What no?! I don’t want that” Lucas cried, desperate to make Eliott stay.  
  
“Please I…” he was frantically searching his brain for the right words. Words that would make Eliott stay, but he couldn’t come up with any.  
  
He felt Eliott slowly easing out of his grip, and he was full on desperate now. He had to make him stay, make him understand. 

Eliott shook his head with a defeated look and turned around.

Before Lucas even had a chance to think, he took a few steps forward grabbing Eliott’s arm again and turned him around, cupped his face and smashed their lips together.  
  
Lucas knew he’d taken him by surprise, because it took several seconds before the taller boy responded to the kiss. For a second Lucas panicked, afraid that Eliott didn’t want to kiss him. Afraid that Lucas had misunderstood the whole thing.  
But soon Eliott parted his lips, letting Lucas taste him. It was messy and sloppy and they were both panting desperately into each other’s mouths, trying to convey every emotion they weren’t able to do with words. Eliott snaked an arm around Lucas’ neck, gently tucking his hair, making Lucas moan into the kiss.  
The stubble on Eliott’s face burned Lucas’ chin, but he didn’t care, because it felt like heaven and complete and absolute bliss. Lucas could feel Eliott grinning which made their teeth clatter together and soon they were laughing and smiling into each other’s mouths more than they were actually kissing. But still, it was everything Lucas had ever dreamt of, better even. The softness of Eliott's lips combined with the roughness of his stubbles and his firm grip on Lucas, had him clinging on to Eliott like crazy, afraid that he might pass out from the complete ecstasy he was feeling.  

After what might have been seconds or hours, Lucas wasn’t sure, they pulled away, both laughing like crazy, giving each other small pecks between laughter and giggles.  
  
Eliott had the widest grin plastered on his face and Lucas was pretty sure that his lips would split if he smiled any wider. The taller boy still had his arm around Lucas’ neck as he pulled him into a bone crushing hug, which Lucas gladly welcomed. He took advantage of the fact that his mouth was perfectly aligned with Eliott's neck, giving him small pecks and kisses.

“Finally” Eliott whispered, and Lucas wasn’t sure if he even meant to say it out loud.

“Finally” he whispered back, grabbing on to Eliott for dear life.

**Author's Note:**

> Chloe is very out of character, but I found it necessary for the plot to work.  
> Please leave comments and feedback.
> 
> New chapters are coming, so stay tuned!
> 
> Find me on tumblr: spidermecc


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